The Neutron-Vortex Rules for a Mutually Beneficial Friendship
by DistrictThirteenTribute
Summary: Jimmy Neutron and Cindy Vortex are perfectly content with their (sexually) beneficial friendship. But when the boundaries they set get the better of them, how much longer, and will it even be possible, to keep the arrangement up? This is the readers' choice winner!
1. Chapter 1

**The site wasn't allowing me to upload this yesterday for New Year's Eve as I originally planned. So here's my second attempt. Anyway... as the summary says, this is the readers' vote winner!**

**That being said, let's make a deal: I'll keep writing as long as I keep seeing feedback (preferably positive). It doesn't matter if it's in the form of reviews, follows, or favorites or anything. If I see that some of you like it, I'll keep going.**

**I don't really know how this story came to be, but I am surprised that no one has ever thought of this before, at least to my knowledge. I'm both nervous and excited about this one. Warning you right now, there is adult content like you haven't seen before from my JN stories. Nothing too bad, but it can make some people feel uncomfortable seeing as this is a children's program to begin with. So as much as I want you to give it a shot, here's your chance to back out now if you want.**

**If you're still here, awesome.**

**Cast list! I've never done this for a story before but since seeing them as teenagers is something that is totally new for us, I thought it would be best to have a face to match the name. This is, of course, who I think best resembles the characters, but you are totally free to imagine somebody else. **

Jimmy Neutron**: **_**Andrew Garfield**_**. Mainly, it's because of his look in the Amazing Spider-Man movies, (minus the Spidey suit, obviously). Let's just forget about that beard and crew cut and you've got yourself a teen genius.**

Cindy Vortex**: **_**Dianna Agron. **_**Simply because she is stunning and could play the complex character of Cindy really well. Plus, on Glee, her non-Cheerios wardrobe is similar to what I imagine Cindy dressing like as a teenager.**

Libby Folfax**: **_**Kat Graham.**_** I personally think she is so underrated in terms of her beauty, not that that's all she's got going for her. I haven't seen enough of The Vampire Diaries to see her acting chops firsthand but I have a feeling she could play the sassy fashionista really well.**

Sheen Estevez**: **_**Tyler Posey.**_** He was not my first choice, but then I saw a picture of him that made me go, "Yes, that's him! Yes!" And he could also rival Sheen in terms of his silliness, which is really important with a character like him.**

Carl Wheezer**: **_**Ed Sheeran. **_**I know he's not an actor, but when I pictured teenaged Carl, Ed's face just popped into my head. Anybody that read my story **_**Perfection**_** knows how I envision Carl as a teen, and Ed Sheeran looks the part really well, I think.**

**Obviously, these five won't be the only characters in the story, but for now they are the ones that I have an actor for. If I think of someone for another character, I'll just mention it as part of the author's note before a chapter.**

**That's all I've pretty much got to say for now. I'm working really hard on this story and hopefully you like what I've presented you so far. Thank you and... enjoy!**

"Libby, do I really have to go to this?" I asked while standing in front of my best friend's full length mirror in her bedroom wearing a top that had more cleavage than I was comfortable with.

"Cindy, don't start! You promised you would go." She reminded me.

"Yeah, but that was before we started playing Party Girl Dress Up."

"Well, you have to look good."

"I look good in my own clothes." I answered back, slightly irritated.

"There's nothing wrong with trying something new, Cindy." My best friend replied with the casual flip of a magazine. I didn't answer and turned away from the mirror.

"Remind me again why it's so important that we go." I asked, trying to change the subject.

"Cindy, it's the senior year kickoff party. We have to go! Britney invited the entire senior class."

"Well, that's going to be crowded." I replied dryly.

Libby glared at me.

"I'm sure not everyone is going to go." She explained.

"So then why do we have to?" I questioned.

"Cindy..." She rolled her eyes, getting annoyed with me. "You said you would go. Plus, Britney is our friend. It's not like she's a stranger or some random senior that we don't know."

"I know, I know. I said I would go. I'm going to keep my word."

"Good. I'm glad to hear that." She spoke as I turned back to the mirror, trying to find some way of making this ridiculously revealing shirt less revealing. "Sheen told me that Jimmy's going to be there."

"Yay?" I wasn't sure if that was supposed to please me.

"Oh, come on. Aren't you excited to see him?"

"He's my neighbor. I see him more than is necessary."

"But not as much as you want to." She said softly, but I was still able to hear her. Not wanting to start an argument, I turned to her and brought the subject back to my clothing choices for tonight.

"Can I please wear my own clothes? I'm giving you something you want. You can at least give me something I want in return."

"Fine." She caved in. "But you have to surprise me."

"Okay." I said, agreeing to whatever that meant.

"I'm serious! Look Cin, you have a hot little body. You need to start wearing clothes that actually show it off as opposed to all your little dresses and cardigans."

"Hey, I like my little dresses and cardigans."

"Just...try to wear something I wouldn't expect you to. Surprise me."

"Okay." I was already mentally going through my closet, trying to find the most shocking thing. "I'll try."

* * *

><p>It's not that I never planned to wear this outfit. I just never thought I would wear it somewhere so...public. While other girls would think nothing of it, I definitely consider this to be more of the risque pieces I own. A tight little black crop top and red miniskirt really should be Libby approved because I was not about to turn back and put on something else.<p>

In the end, I took her mouth dropping open when she answered her front door to let me in to be a good thing.

"Close your mouth. You'll catch flies." I warned as I walked in.

"Cindy, you look incredible! Why don't you wear things like this more often?"

"You don't realize how hesitant I was about wearing this, do you?"

She laughed with a playful roll of her eyes. "We should get going. Are you ready?" I nodded noticing that only thing I needed was my wristlet, which held my phone, chapstick, and emergency cash.

We decided to carpool over to Britney's where we would meet up with the guys. Libby was particularly excited about seeing Sheen, not that it should surprise me seeing that they've been dating for nearly a year. Although what does surprise me is Carl's relationship status. To put it simply, he's kind of a ladies' man. He's not one to hold down a girlfriend, but he definitely wouldn't have any difficulty if he actually tried.

And then there was Neutron. He is still pretty much the same as he has always been. The only thing that's really changed is how much more arrogant he is. However, and I do argue this, Libby mentions how we've become more 'flirty' in the past couple of years. And if by that she means that we're at each other's throats more often than when we were children, then yes, she's right.

We arrived at Britney's in under fifteen minutes and by the looks of things, it seemed that party had been going on for longer than that. Hearing the loud music from down the block should have prepared me for that though.

Libby somehow managed to find a parking spot quickly and we both got out of the car and headed towards Britney's house. Being her friends, we had been here plenty of times, so it was quick to notice how different her usual pristine house looked now that it had dozens of chaotic teenagers in it.

Despite that, it didn't take a very long time before we were able to find the boys, each with a cup in their hand.

"Libbypop!" I heard Sheen exclaim as we approached him, Carl, and Neutron. With a smile that filled her whole face, she ran up to him and kissed him like they hadn't seen each other in days even though it was probably less than twenty-four hours.

After exchanging a friendly smile with Carl, I turned to the most irksome of the trio.

"Neutron." I greeted in my usual careless tone.

"Vortex." He answered back. "You look..." He looked me up and down and I couldn't help be feel a little anxious to hear his answer. "Lovely."

_Lovely? What am I, five?_

"Thanks. You don't look so bad yourself." Although I didn't nearly give him the go-over like he gave me, I really couldn't deny how good he looked.

As the opening bars to the next song starting playing, Libby leaned in to whisper in my ear that she was going with Sheen to get us some drinks. I nodded as they turned away, but I wasn't expecting them to return anytime soon.

I stood between Jimmy and Carl, not saying anything to either one of them. Even though I don't pick on Carl anymore and haven't done so in years, I wouldn't really consider us to be close friends. We're friendly with each other, sure, but that doesn't mean we are able to pick up a conversation as quickly and easily as I can with Libby or another one of my girl friends.

Thankfully, the awkwardness between us two was short lived.

"If you guys will excuse me..." He trailed off as he followed after the senior member cheerleaders that had just walked by the three of us and looked a bit too long at Carl than was normal.

"Remind me again how that happened?" I asked and he shrugged in response.

"Lost the weight, got contacts, better meds, grew. Worked out well, I think." He replied before drinking from his cup.

"Apparently," I began. "You only did one of those things and look, you're nowhere near as lucky as he is."

"As did you and I don't really see you surrounded by a gaggle of suitors."

_Jerk._

"I am really going to enjoy having class with your lovely self for the next ten months, Neutron." I retorted, my voice dripping with sarcasm. But unfortunately, that was true. The being in class with him part, not the enjoying it.

As we are both the only real competition the other has for class valedictorian, we're taking every single AP class that Retroville High has to offer to ensure one of us gets the top spot. It'll be stressful, hectic, and I'm already thinking of how much sleep I'll be losing. But if it means beating Neutron at what he does best, it'll be all worth it. And I'm positive he's been thinking the same thing.

"But surely, not as much as I am." His breath tickled my neck since he had to get close to me so I could properly hear him. I noticed that insufferable, cocky grin of his as he pulled away and would have said something back if Britney hadn't come up to us just then.

"Hey, you two." She began, trying to talk over the loud music. "Umm, we were about to start a game of beer pong but we need a couple of more people. You in?"

"Err," I glanced over at Jimmy, who didn't look like he was about to answer. "I don't-."

"Sure." He spoke before I had a chance to. "Sounds like fun. Let's go." Britney nodded as she turned away and walked towards where the game was being played.

Just before he set out to follow her, he turned to me.

"Coming, Vortex?" I felt my lip pull upward in a half smirk as I followed the two of them.

I'm not much of a drinker. I mean, I'm not all uptight about it or anything like that. Drinking games just aren't really my thing which is why I was hesitant of playing in the first place. But hey, once in a while won't kill you, right?

We entered her dining room where the table was already set up with ten red plastic cups on each side.

"So we're playing boys versus girls." Britney began. I found that it was easier to hear her since the music was muffled in this room. "And since you two joined last, you'll have to go against each." I could hear the sympathy in her voice.

"Fine with me. Let's just hope Neutron can handle it." I saw him shake his head with a smirk on his face as he reached the other side of the table. Some of the guys who would be playing on his team were laughing too. But if it was directed at me or at him, I couldn't really tell.

"Vortex, you really do underestimate me, don't you?"

As I was opening my mouth to reply, Britney interjected.

"Okay, you two, don't start." She scolded like we were children and I knew she could tell that an argument would have begun if she hadn't said anything. Then turning to the crowd, all set and ready to go, she said, "Alright, let's begin!"

* * *

><p>I'd be lying if I told you that the girls won that game. So naturally, we had to play again.<p>

And again.

I would tell you what the results of those two other games were if I weren't so buzzed that I wasn't really paying attention.

To prevent the last game from getting boring, we played with something stronger than beer. A happy compromise, I think, seeing as Neutron and I were the only ones pushing for that third game.

After a not so devastating loss (for someone), the table was cleared and set up for Flip Cup or whatever it was called.

Neutron, trying to one me up as usual, joined in that activity as well as me. And it was somewhere between that and switching over to play Drink or Dare (as I dubbed it) that I realized we were both completely hammered. Now, we weren't the only ones. But when you successfully manage get the two most arrogant and proud brainiacs in the school who may or may not hate each other as much as they say they do drunk, people are going to notice. And more importantly, they're going to try to take advantage of it.

Which is exactly what Katelyn, a classmate of ours, is trying to do at the moment.

"Cindy." Holding out the 'S' sound in my name, she turned to face me with an excited smile. "Truth or dare?"

Not really caring about what I chose, I said, "Dare."

With a giggle, that should have already counted as a warning, she declared, "I dare you to kiss," in her drunk state, she made a show with her finger before pointing to the victim. And when I saw who it landed on, I froze. "Jimmy."

Instantly, I heard some people laughing although I really couldn't understand why.

"She won't do it, even though she wants to!" I heard someone say and could tell that some heads were nodding in agreement.

"Look at Neutron! He's pale as hell!"

I stole a quick glance at him and sure enough, that's exactly how he looked. He refused to make eye contact with me and I got the sense that he wanted out of this situation just as much as I did.

It's no secret that Jimmy and I have some sort of...thing. Whether it's good or bad is still up for debate. There are some things we need to work on, I know, and some things we have to share with and tell one another. But there's plenty of time for that. Not at this time, under these circumstances. Not with everyone talking about how it was 'about damn time' or 'finally'. Even though I've heard all this at school and even around town, it's not going to change our minds about when we're ready to have this surely long and heated meeting.

But not here. Not now.

A mixture of both humiliation and dizziness caused me to drop the cup I was holding and run out of the room and into the kitchen. I desperately hoped it was empty so I could be alone.

Glad to see that it was, I held my head in my hands as if that could relieve its ache and realized how dry my mouth was.

Water. I need water.

There was a red plastic cup on the counter in front of me. I picked up the cup and after noting that the liquid was clear, I drank from it. Instantly, I winced and coughed a few times. A little farther down the counter I saw a short bottle with a green ribbon around the neck. Bringing it closer, I noticed it said 'Tequila: Silver Patron' on the front.

_Great._

As I placed it back where I found it, I heard footsteps coming into the kitchen.

"Cindy? Are you okay?" Even with my back turned, I knew Neutron was there, trying to get my attention. "Don't-don't listen to them. Come on, I'll find someone to take you home", he slurred, knowing he was in no condition to take himself home, let alone me.

I could hear him behind me, but I didn't really want to listen. I wasn't turning around not only because I didn't want to to risk getting dizzy but also because I had no idea what to say.

Is that really what people think of me and Neutron? Two idiots that are completely ignorant about their attraction towards each other? The smartest kids in school and yet the stupidest? Are people really just waiting to see what we do next? Get into an argument in class, cause a scene in The Candy Bar, or finally just...hook up? Is that what it'll take to get everyone to just shut up about it? Is that what they want? Is that what I want?

Yeah. It is.

Grabbing the tequila bottle by its short neck for reinforcement, I turned to face him and spoke loud enough for him to hear.

"Come on."

He followed.

Knowing my way around Britney's house, I led him upstairs via a staircase in the back of the kitchen that was hidden unless you knew where to look. On the way upstairs, I took a couple of swigs from the bottle, hoping it would keep my courage up for what I was about to do.

When we reached the top of the stairs, I led him over to one of the guest bedrooms. With a hand on the doorknob, I faced him and held up the bottle, silently offering it to him.

Doing what I had hoped, he accepted it and took a long drink. As he was doing so, I opened the door and walked inside.

I thought about my current situation as he followed.

Did I want to do this? Yes. Is right now the best time? Probably not, but to be honest, it was bound to happen eventually. Does Neutron want to do this? He hasn't actually said anything, let alone stop me, but I would definitely take him locking the door behind him as a yes.

He stood in front of me, handing the bottle back. I took it and drank once more before I spoke with a courage that I know I wouldn't have had without the alcohol.

I looked into his eyes the entire time.

"You want this, don't you? You-you want me." I wasn't asking. More like confirming. "And...I want you too." He bit his lip at that and I found it nearly impossible to keep going. "We...probably won't remember it in the morning." I explained, as if he really needed more convincing. "And- " I kept going but noticed that he appeared to be getting closer to me. Either that or the room was closing in. "No one has to know." He was definitely getting closer. "If you prefer it that way."

"Okay." It was the first word he had spoken since we were down in the kitchen. But he was saying so much with it.

He was extremely close now. One more step and there would be no turning back. But I felt like I had to say one more thing.

"And also-."

"Shut up."

And then we were kissing.

But it wasn't just any kiss. It was deep and hungry. _Raw_ was probably the best word. We kissed like our lives depended on it and we were desperate to stay alive. We kissed with everything we had. It was as if we were making up for lost time.

When we made it to the bed, he was on top of me, close as can be but not putting all his weight on me. His lips moved to my neck as one of my hands clutched onto his hair while the other I used to try to lift his shirt up. He ran his free hand under my skirt and up my thigh, giving it a gentle, teasing squeeze before bringing it back around. He wasted no time running that same hand up my side and fondled my breast. At the same time, he licked the hollow spot behind my ear. All that caused me to let out a mewl that came out sounding a lot more eager than I meant it to.

"God Vortex, you are so fucking hot." He growled as I was able to wedge his shirt up a few inches higher. Just as I was pulling to remove it, he sat up, kneeled between my legs and did so himself. If it wasn't for him coming back down to kiss me again, I could have easily stared at his toned chest all night.

Suddenly, he rolled us over causing me to straddle him. I instantly liked this a lot more and I had a feeling he knew that I would. Noticing the smirk on his lips and not taking my eyes off his, I took off my shirt and instead of going for his lips, I began leaving wet kisses across every inch of his chest.

The movement caused me to rub up against him. I could feel him, right where I needed him most. Letting out a contented sigh, I continued grinding on him as I began sucking his neck.

"Holy crap." He said with a chuckle, as if he couldn't believe the situation we were in. And frankly, neither could I.

Impatiently, I climbed off him and moved my hands to his belt, my new objective being to remove his pants. Catching on, he reached down and started to help.

And that was when my phone rang.

It was in my wristlet, which had fallen to the carpeted floor along with the tequila bottle. The sound appeared foreign, like it shouldn't be here. And it really, _really _shouldn't.

"Just ignore it." I slurred as he sat up to kiss me, probably meaning to distract me.

Pulling away, I finished undoing his belt and pants and he lifted his hips to assist me in taking them off. All while the phone rang for a second time. Knowing this would ruin everything if it kept happening, I very reluctantly decided to go turn it off.

Walking over and seeing the caller ID nearly made me want to answer. Nearly.

"It's Libby." I said. He rolled his eyes, portraying what I was feeling. Thinking quickly, I thought of what to do. "I'll get rid of her."

"What?" He blinked, clearly confused.

"I'll get rid of her." I repeated while smoothing out my skirt. "It won't take long. Just-." I stumbled over to where he sat and kissed him again. "Wait here." I bit my lip as I pulled away, only imagining what we would get up to when I returned. "I'll be right back." I made my way out of the room, picking up his discarded shirt and putting it on since I was unable to find my own.

I headed down the stairs hoping I could find her quickly. And at the halfway point, she found me.

"Cindy!" She yelled, obviously angry. "Where the hell have you been? I've been calling you!" She motioned to my phone, which I was surprised to see was still in my hand.

"I-err-I." I fumbled, unable to get any words out.

"My God Cindy, you're completely trashed. Come on, let's get out of here." She grabbed my hand and began to turn around.

"No!" I pulled away.

"Cindy, I'm not fighting with you on this. We're leaving." She moved towards me again.

"You go. I'll just-."

"I am not going to leave you here like this. Come on!" She yanked my hand and pulled me down the rest of the stairs, ignoring my protests.

"But I- I promised... I told..." I tried to explain even though she couldn't hear me through the loud music.

Just before we left the building, I looked back at the stairs, my vision blurring out what I was leaving behind.

**Jimmy's POV**

What the hell?

I was lying on... whoever's bed this was with my arm covering my eyes, waiting for Vortex to come back. It felt like an hour had passed even though it probably wasn't that much. What the hell was taking her so long?

After a while, it really didn't seem like she would return. Don't know why I'm so surprised though. It's so typical of her to kill the mood.

I sat up and the room instantly started spinning. Rubbing my eyes as if that were the way of getting rid of it, I reached for my pants which were left on the floor at the foot of the bed. As I was pulling them back on, I noticed that I couldn't find my shirt anywhere.

Giving up on it, it occurred to me that all my friends had most likely left. I didn't hear much noise coming from downstairs which meant the party was dying down. Luckily, my phone was in my pocket and it only took me a second to think of the person to call that would ask the least amount of questions.

Pressing the correct speed dial and then 'send', I help the phone up to my ear and waited for an answer. Once I heard a voice on the other side, I spoke.

"Hey Carl? I know it's late but, I need you to come get me."

**So... there you go! Can you see why I'm so nervous about it? Please review if you can. Thanks so much for reading!**

**Oh, and happy one year (and one day) of publication anniversary to my story **_**Perfection**_**! You showed me the power and influence you guys can have because it was thanks to your awesome reviews that lead me to expand the story much more than originally planned. Hopefully that works again this time around? Happy New Year!**


	2. Chapter 2

**So I figured out what the problem was with uploading the first chapter. Seeing how long I've been a member of this site, I'm a little embarrassed that I didn't notice it before. Also, I went back and tweaked the first chapter a little bit and changed the rating, and if I'm being totally honest, yes, it was so I could get more readers. I'm proud of this story, I like where it's headed, and I want more people to notice it too. (If you read the first chapter originally, you don't need to go back and reread it. I've only changed a few words here and there.) And while I was changing a couple of things, I figured, why not post the second chapter while I'm here? So here it goes! Thank you for coming back to read and I hope you enjoy!**

**Cindy's POV**

My eyes hurt. If that were at all possible.

Or it could just be the lighting streaming in from the window.

Light. Sun. Morning.

Ugh.

I turned my head into the pillow, trying to avoid the ever-burning sun. Realizing that it couldn't be done, I turned back around with a groan.

"Oh good, you're up." I heard Libby's voice. "Here." She held out a tall glass of water. "I thought we had aspirin but we don't apparently. So, sorry about that."

"That's okay." I spoke groggily. She shouldn't be responsible for helping me anyway. I sat up before taking the glass from her. I drank nearly half of the cool water before I spoke again. "What time is it?"

"It's a little past eleven. You were asleep for a while there."

"Yeah." I said, unsure of how else to reply to that. "Did um- did my mom call? I'm sure she's worried."

"I called her actually." She started. "I told her the party was kind of lame so we decided to come back here and have a sleepover. You were going to let her know but you fell asleep so I informed her."

I blinked at her.

"Thanks." She really didn't have to do that.

"No problem." She answered with a wry smile. The tension in the room was weird. It was...awkward. Being lifelong best friends, a silence like this had never occured between us, so neither one of us had any idea how to end it. I drank some more of the water, hoping I would think of something.

"So are you going to tell me what happened last night?" She didn't ask it like she was curious, or even as a piece of gossip. It was more like, accusatory. Like a warden asking a prisoner if he was talking back to them even though they knew they were. She knew I had something to say, but she wanted me to say it.

I looked down at her comforter, truly embarrassed and ashamed of myself.

"Hey." I could hear her above me, sounding a bit more sympathetic than she had before. "I'm not going to judge you. You know I wouldn't do that. But we need to know what happened so we can make sure you aren't hurt. So whatever you remember, feel free to share.

"Umm..." I thought back to last night, even though most of it was choppy. I tried to focus on how I started drinking in the first place. "There was ...beer pong, that...cup flipping thing. Truth or dare. I...everything else is kind of blurry."

"Well," she cleared her throat before continuing. "You came from upstairs when I saw you. Any idea how you got there?"

I remember fully well how I got up there, if not anything else. But that didn't mean I had to tell her about it.

"The bathroom."

"Cindy," She scolded. She totally knew I was lying. By now I had looked up. But I couldn't look into her eyes without giving away everything I remembered. "You were with Jimmy last night, weren't you?"

"I- wha- what makes you say that?"

"Well, Sheen called me this morning saying Jimmy spent the night at Carl's after asking him to pick him up because he woke up in the middle of the night in a bedroom in Britney's house. Any idea what that could be about?"

I shrugged as if I really had no clue.

"Neutron got lucky last night?" Well, I wasn't totally off.

She gave me a look and I knew that I could no longer deny it.

"Alright, fine. Yes, I was with him." While she was pleased that I confessed, she still didn't look relieved.

"Cindy, I need you to answer my next question honestly." I already had a feeling to what it would be. "Did you have sex with Jimmy last night?"

"I don't know." I answered, because I truly didn't.

"You don't know? Are you kidd-?"

"Well, I don't think so okay?" I nearly yelled while I lifted the comforter off me and swung my legs to sit on the bed. "I- I'm not sore anywhere. Nowhere hurts apart from my head. Not the way it should after...that. You were sore after your first time, weren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, well I'm not. So I really don't think I slept with him. I'm nearly positive."

"Alright." She was only dropping this for the time being. "Do you want to take a shower? No offense, but you look and smell kind of gross. I'm sure you don't want your mother to see you like this."

"Yeah." I agreed. "That would not be a good idea." Nodding, she turned and pulled open a drawer and took out two purple towels.

As she passed them to me, she said, "I'll set out some clothes for you and drive you home whenever you're ready."

"Okay, thanks." I gave her a warm, grateful smile as I turned away and walked towards her attached bathroom.

* * *

><p><strong>Jimmy's POV<strong>

"Dude, what happened?"

In walked Sheen and closed the door, although it felt like he were slamming it a thousand times over. The effects of this hangover were mainly a throbbing headache and a severely dry mouth so I was not up to doing much talking. I threw Carl a look, silently asking him to reiterate the story for me.

"Basically," Carl began. "what I told you on the phone. Jimmy got plastered at Britney's last night, called me at around one thirty so I could pick him up, then he spent the night here."

Confused, Sheen turned to face me. "Why the hell were you still there that late? I thought we all agreed to meet at midnight so we could leave. When I couldn't find you guys, I assumed you left."

I looked away, not really wanting to answer. I noticed that Sheen then turned to Carl, hoping he could respond.

"Well, I didn't want to be intrusive."

"Carl, you're his best friend. You're allowed to be included in what goes on in his life."

I let out a laugh at how Sheen mixed up the words.

"So come on, tell us." He nudged me and pulled up a chair to sit besides me.

"Tell you what?" I spoke for the first time since his arrival.

"The reason why you were there so late and had Carl go get you. You were with a girl, weren't you?" He raised his eyebrows suggestively.

I really don't give Sheen enough credit sometimes.

Looking sheepish, I didn't say anything, which of course constituted as an answer.

"Aw, man! I knew it!" He backslapped his own palm in excitement as he nearly jumped out of his seat. "Who was she?"

I could feel both my best friends' eyes on me, Carl now joining in on the curiosity.

"You really want to know?" Sheen responded with a nod while Carl simply blinked. I knew from the beginning that there was no getting out of it or lying about it.

"Cindy."

Sheen's eyes widened as if he were genuinely surprised that it was her. Carl turned the other way but I could have sworn I saw a trace of a smile on his face.

"Wait, as in Vortex? Your neighbor? The one you've been fighting with since the day you met?"

"Do you know another one?" I snapped, too impatient for his stupid questions.

"You-you slept with Cindy?"

"Well," I started less confidently. "I don't really know about that."

"How do you not know?" Carl was the one who spoke.

"I had a lot to drink. I don't remember much. But I don't think I did. We were, you know, fooling around for a bit. Then she- at one point, she got up and left. She never came back. After a while, I realized she wasn't coming back and called you." I gestured to Carl.

"Why did she leave?" Carl asked.

"I don't know. Her phone was ringing. It was probably her mom or something." I ran my hands through my hair again, my head still pounding.

"No, it was Libby." Sheen brought up.

"How do you know that?" Carl asked what we were both thinking.

"After you called me this morning, I called Libby and told her. She said that after she found Cindy after calling a bunch of times, she came from upstairs drunk. So now that you said that, I figured Libby was the one who called."

I shrugged, knowing it doesn't even really matter. I drank from the orange juice Carl had given me earlier as the silence in the room grew.

"So...what now?" Carl spoke. Putting the glass down on his bedside table and noticing the time on his alarm clock, I answered.

"I should get home. My parents are probably really worried."

"No, I meant with Cindy."

"Oh, well nothing, I guess." I started putting my shoes on.

"Don't you think you two should talk about this?" It was Sheen's turn to interrogate.

"What's the point? We're just going to end up arguing over what did or did not happen, trying to get the facts straight. Besides, I'd rather forget about it as I'm sure she would."

"So-so you don't think anything good came out of this?"

"Go-? No! Why would I think that?"

"Well, because given everything you guys have gone through, your past and all, there's not the smallest part of you that liked it?" Carl explained.

_This again._

I had to resist the urge to roll my eyes.

"Look." I faced the two of them. "I'm a guy. I'm going to like it, no matter what. The fact that it was Vortex just makes it an unfortunate coincidence. I suppose, if anything, I should be thankful that it was someone that I know and not someone random. Last night could have turned out very differently if it had been. I'm not going to talk to her because there's really no point. Is it going to be awkward the next time we see each other? Yes. But we'll get over it. We're mature enough to handle this rationally." At the end of my rant, I got up and moved past them.

"You know, for a genius, you say some pretty stupid things sometimes." I heard Sheen comment behind me. Just as I was turning around to defend myself, Carl stood by him.

"I think what Sheen is trying to say is that you can't just think of yourself in this. There's a very good chance that Cindy wants to talk about this just as much as you don't want to admit that you do. Now, we're not going to get into the whole you and Cindy thing, but, out of respect for her, you should talk to her."

"And we all know she's not the kind of girl you do that with and then pretend to forget about it." Sheen interjected.

I stood there, not knowing what to do but not saying anything either.

They're right, of course. It's completely illogical to just pretend this never happened even though it would make everything a lot easier. In a way, I guess you could say I'm worried about how this will affect Cindy and mine's relationship. I don't hate her. By no means is that true, no matter how many times I say it when we're arguing. I appreciate her being around, in fact. She's my adversary, in every possible way. I like it. I truly do. What happened last night simply deviated from the way we usually act. We've never gone, not even close, to that side of the spectrum of how two people interact. So I just think it'll be extremely difficult to cope with it and would much rather forget it. But Sheen and Carl are right. We can't just leave it like this.

"Alright, fine. I'll talk to her tomorrow. But only if she wants to. If she wants to forget about it and go about our normal lives, then that's the end of it. Agreed?" They both nodded. "Okay, then. Carl, thanks so much for everything. I appreciate it and I'll see you in school tomorrow." He nodded again with a smile. "Sheen, do you mind driving me home?"

"No problem, buddy."

* * *

><p><strong>Cindy's POV<strong>

"So your first class with Jimmy is coming up, right?" Libby asked when we approached my locker and I began dialing the combination. It was finally the long awaited first day of senior year and as much as I wanted it to be a great one, I knew that was easier said than done. What happened at Britney's could have been simple to forget had the other person involved not been in my first period class. Or nearly every class I have today, for that matter.

With a sigh that showed my clear dislike for that fact, I replied.

"Unfortunately."

"Are you going to go talk to him? About that?"

"No." was the obvious answer.

"No? Well, don't you think you should?"

"Actually, no. I don't." I replied, deciding to give no further explanation.

"Really?" She said sarcastically. "Because even though you were moments away from losing your virginity to him while you were drunk at a high school party, you can't think of one good reason why you should talk to him?"

"Would you keep your voice down please?" I asked while shutting my locker and turning to walk in the opposite direction, hoping no one had heard her.

"I really think you should." She shared her opinion while trailing behind me.

"Why?" I replied, half curious and half knowing she wouldn't let this go until I heard her out.

"Because," She grabbed my arm and turned me around. "Whether you want to admit it or not, this is big. Huge even. This is a step in the right direction, no matter how...unconventionally it was taken. If it was anyone other than Jimmy, you would insist on talking to him, at least to clear things up."

"Well, thank you for thinking of me in that way." She replied with one of her famous stern looks. "Okay look, I agree that there should be some sort of clarification, but that doesn't mean-."

"Cindy?"

I saw Libby's eyes widen slightly before I turned around and saw why.

"Neutron." I said as neutrally as I could. He gave me a weak smile as he turned to greet Libby. I took this half second to look at him.

He appeared... anxious. His hair stuck out a bit more than usual, as if he had run his hand through it one too many times.

"So um," I heard him say as he turned back to me, "do you have a minute?" Libby cleared her throat, being way too obvious, and excused herself. Knowing there was no getting out of it, I sighed and waited for him to speak. "So about the other night-."

"Hold on." I held up a hand and led him to the wall where our conversation could be a bit more private. Or as private as it could be in a high school hallway filled with nosey teenagers. Once we were as out of earshot as we could be, he continued. "I just wanted to let you know that right now is not the best time or place to have this conversation, but we do need to have it." He sounded a hell of a lot more confident now, like someone had kicked some courage into him on the walk over here.

"I agree." I said with a nod, even though I still wasn't entirely sure about it.

"Okay, good. Are you available today after school?" I nodded quickly, like if I breathed a word, the entire Retroville High population would find out what had happened. "Alright, so come to the lab at four." I nodded again. "You know, when we meet, this is not going to be a one sided conversation."

I rolled my eyes.

"I'll see you at four, Neutron." I confirmed as I turned and decided to take the long way to the my first class to avoid seeing Neutron any longer than necessary.

**I really liked writing that scene with Jimmy, Sheen, and Carl. In all my JN stories, I don't have a scene with just the three of them so it was a nice change. Thanks for reading and please review!**


	3. Chapter 3

**I just wanted to take this time to thank you guys so much for the lovely reviews you've sent. I appreciate every word. You guys are so, SO great and I'm really glad you're liking the story. **

**Also! I've decided to cast Britney. Not because she'll be an important character later on in the story (in fact, I don't **_**think**_** we'll be seeing much more of her after this chapter), but because her party started the whole ordeal, and that seems pretty important, if you ask me. So for Britney, I've got AnnaSophia Robb, blonde, bubbly, and beautiful.**

**Cindy's POV **

"Why do you keep looking around?" Libby asked after noticing my wandering eyes. The first day of senior year was nearly halfway over and it was now time for lunch. And if we're being totally honest, I couldn't be happier. The gossip trail seems to have started as swiftly as the school year did and it's for that reason I'm relieved at its hasty passing. The main topic of information is, as expected, Britney's party and all that happened at it. And I fear that that may also include what occurred behind closed doors.

"Have you heard anything?" I asked without answering her question to me.

"Err..." She responded to my extremely vague question.

"About that night? Me and Neutron?" I asked as I continued looking around suspiciously

"Oh." She laughed. "No, I haven't."

"Why did you laugh?"

"Because it's funny that you're being so paranoid about this."

"I am not. I'm just being cautious." I fought back. With a sigh, she continued.

"No, Cindy. No one is talking about you and Jimmy hooking up the night of Britney's party." I shushed her at that last part. "In fact, I don't think anybody knows apart from the five of us."

"Five?" I asked, no longer looking around but instead focused on who the other two people are.

"You, Jimmy, me, Sheen, and Carl. I told you he was at Carl's and that Sheen went over after he called me. Surely, Jimmy told them what happened between you two."

"And how do we know that they aren't going to go telling the whole school? Carl and Sheen don't exactly have the best track record of keeping their mouths shut."

"Have a little fate, Cin. You know they wouldn't do that. Not for something this big." I shrugged as we made our way onto the lunchroom and got in line for food.

Once we had it, it was nearly impossible to make our way to our usual table without hearing people chattering away. An obvious look of annoyance showed on my face, not because they were talking about Britney, but because of how in-depth and specific their conversations could potentially get. Libby, of course, noticed.

"Cindy, relax. I'm sure not everyone is talking about the party. Remember that it's the first day of school. People are going to be buzzing with excitement all day. For some, like us, this is their last first day of high school ever. Calm down."

I wasn't really able to respond because right as Libby finished speaking, the boys came to sit with us.

"Ladies." Sheen said as a greeting while going over to kiss Libby on the cheek and then taking a seat besides her. Carl sat besides me and Neutron next to Sheen, making him and I sit on opposite ends of the table in every sense of the word. Although this is not the first (or second) time I've see him today, it doesn't appear that we'll actually communicate until later on, when we planned to. It's not that I've done a good job of ignoring him, it's that we've done an excellent job of avoiding each other. Then again, the grudges we've endured throughout the years when we refuse to speak to each other have prepared us for this.

"So what were you guys talking about?" Sheen asked.

Even though I knew Libby wouldn't say anything, I didn't want to run the risk of Neutron misinterpreting what she does says into something he thinks I may be worried about. So I answered Sheen's question.

"Oh, you know, just girl stuff." I threw him a tight and unconvincing smile. Luckily, Libby nor anyone else said anything and instead the conversation was moved to how the first day of school was going so far.

About ten minutes later, Britney came by and stopped at our table.

"Hey guys!" The five of us had distinct ways of greeting her, with mine being the grumpiest, despite my best efforts. "I just wanted to thank you all for coming the other day. I was actually worried no one would show up but I think it went really well. Did you guys have fun?" A mix of 'yeah' and nods and 'it was fun's went through the five of us while Britney smiled happily. "Good to hear. Well, thanks again. I'll see you guys around!" She left quickly after saying goodbye.

Our conversations continued with Neutron and I managing to not make any form of contact. I was really appreciative of Libby as well as Sheen and Carl for not questioning our silence towards each other or pushing for us to talk. It seems that she was right about those two when it came to their understanding of this matter.

With the lunch period over and Jimmy, Sheen, and Carl already headed to their next classes, Libby and I were left alone. As we were walking down the hallway to our own classes, she asked me what I know she's been waiting to since this morning.

"So how did your conversation with Jimmy go this morning? I was going to ask during lunch but I got the sense that it wasn't the best time to bring it up."

"You were right about that. I'm going down to the lab today at four so we can talk."

"Oh. Do you want to come over after? Tell me how it went?"

"I can't. I'm going to karate after that. Besides, I doubt there'll be much to report on. We'll probably just end up arguing over who kissed who first but agree that it was the biggest mistake of our lives."

"Uh Huh."

"Not going to lie though, it was kind of strange not talking all day. Kind of makes me wish our conversation was over already so that there would be zero awkwardness between us and we could go about our lives as usual." I ended with a light laugh. Libby smiled, but I could tell how strained it was.

"Well, I better head to history so..." She trailed off and pointing her thumb back down the hall where her class was.

"Yeah and I cannot be late for AP Calc. I'll see you tomorrow." We hugged before parting ways.

* * *

><p>Even though I told Libby earlier how much I wanted to get this discussion with Neutron over with, now that the hour has finally arrived, it is the last thing I want to do. I even stayed after school today to talk to some teachers hoping to distract me from going over there. But I eventually came around and got to the task at hand. As much as I was hesitant about meeting, I understood how important this was.<p>

However, that didn't stop me from wringing my hands and taking deep breath as I was walking across his backyard towards the clubhouse entrance.

What I couldn't figure out is why. Why am I so...nervous for this? It wasn't like I didn't accurately describe the outcome of this to Libby and myself earlier. I mean, there's no reason to be nervous about this. It's only Neutron, for crying out loud!

Once I approached the shed, I waited until the camera got a shot of me, signaling Neutron that I had arrived. I didn't even try the intercom since I knew he was expecting me. Bracing myself, I waited for the infamous 'Welcome' mat to pop open under me and slide me into the lab.

Seconds later, I landed on the floor with a thud and I noticed Neutron get out from his computer chair to come help me up.

"When are you going to come up with a safer way to let people in?" I asked already a bit annoyed, while I brushed the dirt off my dress.

He shrugged. "Someday."

"You've been saying that for years."

"Are we really going to argue about this?"

"Sorry." I said as I walked over and put my bag down on a table. Not entirely sure how to start talking about the real reason why I was here, I turned around slowly. I know that he knew me well enough to tell how anxious I was about this.

"So," he began, thankfully taking the growing uncomfortable tension away. "do you want to start?"

"Umm, I don't really know what to say." I answered honestly.

"Yeah, neither do I." He said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

So much for getting rid of the awkward tension.

"I don't think that's ever happened before. Has it?" He looked up at me when I was finally able to find some words. "Not _that._ I know that hasn't happened. I meant us drinking. At the same time. Together."

"Yeah, no. I don't think that's ever happened." He affirmed and I replied with a simple nod.

After a couple more uncomfortable moments of silence, Neutron spoke up.

"I guess we should try to think back and figure out who's idea it was. Not the drinking. The- the..."

"Kissing."

"Yeah."

"Okay." I answered, happy that we finally had something to go on. "Well, I think it's safe to say that even though we both were... participants in what occurred that night, we know that the to blame is you." I looked at him when I finished. It was as if I had stunned the life out of him. And because of that, he was unable to reply. "What?" I said, hoping he would come back.

"Why would you say that? It sure as hell isn't true." He finally answered.

"Well, of course it is, Jimmy. Clearly, you're the one that provoked it. What, do you think I would just fall into bed with you like that?" I snapped my fingers.

"I don't think it, I know it. You're the one that proposed it."

"Just how are you so sure about that? You had as much to drink as I did."

"Maybe, but since I'm a guy and can hold my liquor better, I remember more."

"And since you're the guy, how do we know you weren't just trying to take advantage of me in the state I was in?"

"I wouldn't exactly say I was the one taking advantage if you were on top most of the time. Surely, you can remember _that._" And that shut me up. I _was_ the one that got off him to get the phone. "Besides, you know I wouldn't do something like that." I could hear the slightly hurt tone in his voice.

"Sorry." A silence fell over the room making it clear that by fighting about this, we were getting nowhere. "Look," he turned and faced me. "Obviously, the way we're approaching this is not helping. Let's just agree that it was one of those heat of the moment things that we're glad ended where it did. It doesn't even matter who started it, because the important thing is that someone ended it."

"Alright." He nodded.

"Good." I turned around to get my backpack while I mumbled, or so I thought, another thing I wanted to say. "Because I would not have wanted my first time to be with you while I was drunk."

"You're a virgin?" He asked, sounding genuinely surprised.

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" I threw my bag back down on the table.

"Why do you take everything I say as an insult?" He turned towards me.

"Because most of the time, it is!" I faced him.

"Well, in this case, it's not! I'm just surprised is all."

"Yeah, I got that. Why is that so shocking, if you don't mind me asking?"

"You- well. Vortex, you're not exactly..." I cocked an eyebrow, extremely curious to what he was going to say. "I just mean- you're not...difficult to look at." He ended weakly as I let out a scoff.

"I know. You said that to me that night."

"So you do remember what happened!"

"Only bits!"

He scoffed this time. "Well, lucky me that you remember that."

"Oh, please you're lucky any of that even happened. You loved it."

"I didn't exactly hear you complaining throughout any of it, Vortex."

"How terribly unfortunate that it will never happen again." I replied sarcastically.

"For once, we can agree!" He bit back.

Annoyed beyond hell, I grabbed my stuff and headed towards the exit, not even bothering to say good-bye.

* * *

><p><strong>Jimmy's POV<strong>

"It wasn't horrible, you know." I said hoping she it would catch her attention. Luckily, she stopped. "What happened that night. You're err...assertive. I'll give you that."

She turned back around and this time I found myself hoping that she wouldn't say anything negative.

"You're...very healthy." She replied shortly after. I chuckled while a grin began forming on my face. "Being down here with this heavy equipment all the time has its benefits, I see."

"Yeah." I whispered in agreement. Silence engulfed us, and I really hoped she would say something because after those declarations, I'm not sure how we can be kept calm. Before I even realized what was happening, however, I was opening my mouth to speak. "It... wouldn't be a terrible thing... if it were to happen again. This time sober, of course."

Why in Einstein's name did I say that?

She gave me a look that I rarely saw from her: one of confusion and incomprehension. Her brows furrowed and she looked at me suspiciously. It was almost as if she wanted to make sure she heard me correctly. It stayed like that for a while. A while that was way too long to be considered normal. She didn't turn and leave though, which I only interpreted to mean that she was thinking about what I said.

"Do-do you mean like kiss and stuff? Again?"

"Yeah." I said coolly with a shrug of my shoulders, not wanting to freak her out. "I mean, nothing serious. Just, you know, whenever we have the urge to, we'll just call up the other. We'll meet up and then we'll both be satisfied." I noticed the look of recognition as well as the twitch in her lip when she seemed to understand.

"You mean like, and forgive me for using this word if you don't think it applies to us, but like, friends with...benefits?"

"I suppose the word 'friends' is a bit too specific, but if there's no other way of putting it, then yes. Like friends with benefits." She stayed quiet, similar to the last pause, and I wished that this wasn't going to happen every time she was confused or didn't believe something I said.

"Are you being serious?" She said this so abruptly, I couldn't hold back the laugh that escaped me.

"Yes. I wouldn't say it if I weren't."

Nodding slowly, like she were really thinking about what to say this time, she paused again. Only now, I found that I was anxious to hear her answer.

"I- I just don't... I don't think that it's a good idea. Given our past, and our present even, I don't think it would work. I don't see much good coming out of it." I blinked, listening to her response but not entirely sure if I was buying it. "Besides, if the other night was any sort of indication, we both know you won't be able to control yourself around me."

It was my turn to be confused now.

"Is that so?" I asked as I took a step forward.

"Mmm Hmm." She stood her ground and nodded. I smiled, as if I was just now realizing something, only I was really doing it to tease her.

"Or maybe the reason you don't want to is because you know _you_ won't possibly be able to keep your hands off of me." She turned away, but even then I knew I had her.

"Alright, Neutron," She said with a slight scowl on her face. "if we're going to do this, we're going to do this right. We need to set some ground rules."

"Isn't the whole point of friends with benefits to not have any rules? Be careless? No strings attached?"

"Not rules, per se. More like...boundaries. So we know what we can and cannot do." She tried her best to explain. And it wasn't good enough because I was still confused.

"If you say so, Vortex." I said nonetheless.

"Okay, rule number one." I rolled his eyes at her use of the word 'rule' even though she just said they weren't that.

"Before you begin, would you like Goddard to keep a record of your 'rules'? Just in case?" I interrupted.

"Uh sure. This isn't going to be hard to forget, but sure. If you want." I glanced and nodded at Goddard, who barked in reply.

"You were saying?"

"Rule number one," She continued. "we don't tell anybody. Nobody needs to know about this. It's our thing so it should be kept our little secret."

"I agree."

"This means you can't tell Carl or Sheen." She said, as if I needed the clarification.

"And you can't tell Libby." I replied.

"That's right."

"Okay."

"Okay."

"But what if someone finds out?" I asked as soon as it occurred to me.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we can only be so careful. What if someone catches us or sees us through a window or something like that and we hear about it? What then?"

"I suppose," She began turning red, probably at the prospect of us actually getting caught. "that we'll just have to be extra cautious. This way nobody finds out and any talk of it will quickly die down."

"That seems logical." I admitted while nodding. We had successfully agreed on the first rule and it surprised me that we had done so without arguing about it.

"Number two," She began.

"If I may, can I make a suggestion?" I thought of this one quickly and figured that it would definitely be the best one."If either one of us meet someone whom we are interested in, then you and I are done. We won't allow...this," I gestured to the space between us. "to interfere with any new romantic relationship we want to pursue. Sound good?"

"Sounds great. I'll definitely agree to that." She seemed enthusiastic about this one, likely because of how smart she knew it was.

"Alright then. Anything else?"

"Yes. Just one more and this is the most important one Neutron, so listen up." I gave her my full attention. "You are not, by any means, to fall in love with me."

I let out a laugh that came out louder than I meant it to be.

"Or you with I, Vortex." I replied as I walked towards her.

"Believe me, that's not going to happen." She came up to me as well.

"And I guarantee it won't happen on my part." I stepped even closer.

"Good." She grinned.

"Good. That settles it then." I smiled back.

"Looks like it."

"So when would you like to start?" I stood incredibly close now. Me being taller than her, she had to slightly tip her head back in order to look at me properly.

"How about right now?" And with that, she shoved me with enough strength that I fell backwards onto the couch. She immediately straddled me and crashed her lips to mine while I held on to her hips.

Immediately, I could tell that this kiss was different than our last one. So much more, and it wasn't just because of the lack of alcohol in our systems. It was more controlled yet relaxed. Slow but building pace. I ran my tongue along her bottom lip, asking for entrance, and she accepted without hesitation. That seemed to calm her, as she now relaxed herself on my lap instead of holding herself up.

I wrapped my arms around her waist, bringing her closer, which she responded to by running her hands from my chest to around my neck. I massaged her tongue softly, not wanting to rush anything. She let out a low moan and tilted her head to the side, deepening our kiss.

We remained locked in each other's embrace for a few minutes. I really couldn't tell how many had passed. It wasn't until she pulled away that I realized how out of breath the two of us were.

While gathering it, we looked at each other, and I think I speak for the both of us when I say it was a look we had never exchanged before.

"I...I have to go." She spoke while keeping her gaze on me. "I have karate in a bit." Cindy explained.

"Okay." I replied with a slight nod and released her. She nodded in return and moved to climb off me. When she got her things, she turned to face me. As I got up, she spoke.

"I'll see you tomorrow then."

With a smile, I replied. "Yeah. Tomorrow." With another nod, she turned and walked towards the automatic doors leading to the lab's exit.

What the hell have we gotten ourselves into?

**Well, that was something. Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

**I love that some of you are predicting what's going to happen. No one's got it spot on though which is good, otherwise I'd feel that I failed as a writer by giving everything away so easily. I'm very happy you guys are enjoying and thanks so much for the support. Oh, and in case you can't tell, the italics are a flashback.**

**Jimmy's POV**

It's been about six weeks since Cindy and I set up our arrangement. I have to admit, it's going quite well. We don't meet every day, only about three or four times a week. We usually meet in the lab, since it's the most private place we've got. My parents are used to me being down here a lot so it's not much of a concern, unlike Cindy's case. I suppose she tells her parents she's hanging out with Libby or staying late after school to talk to teachers. I don't know. I've never asked.

We've kept our word about keeping this between the two of us. This turned out to be pretty easy seeing as we are spending most of our time with each other.

In a completely strange turn of events, straight out of the Twilight Zone, this whole friends with benefits thing has ended up turning us into actual...friends. I can tell, even though we've never outwardly said it. We've been more friendly, less argumentative. We've even started calling each other by our first names regularly.

It pretty much started right before she left the lab one day.

"_Ohhh..." She moaned as I nibbled on her neck, an act I quickly learned she enjoyed very much. She tangled her fingers in my hair, both playing with it and signaling me to kiss her. As I did so, she opened her mouth slightly and we kissed with an eagerness that I noticed happened often. With my hand on her waist, she wrapped her arms around me, hugging me closer. _

_This was more or less how it's been going for the past three weeks._

_Sometimes I'm on top, peppering her collarbone with kisses and sliding my hands up and down her body. Sometimes she's on top, knees on either side of me and sucking my earlobe. Usually we're lying on the couch in the lab, and I finally realize how much I've outgrown it. When we're really impatient, we're up against the wall, although that doesn't last long due to how uncomfortable it gets. Only once have we gone up to my bedroom. It was about a week ago, when both my parents happened to be out._

_In terms of the popular and varying term, bases, that's the farthest we've gone, the very first time at Britney's house notwithstanding. While she lay on my bed, I undid the first few buttons of her blouse and kissed the tops of her breasts and even went as far as taking one of them in my mouth over her bra. When she let out a pleasurable moan unlike any she had produced with me, she wrapped her legs around my waist and rocked into me once. It was enough to make it noticeable for me and for her to realize that that's where we should stop. _

_And that's similar to what's happening in the present. A few minutes later, she pulled away and we both understood the unspoken gesture that we were done for the day. As she fixed her hair, preparing to leave, she spoke. _

"_Oh, I wanted to ask you this before I left. Do you at all understand how Mr. Ward was explaining yesterday's lesson? I was trying to do the homework last night..." She trailed off and reached down into her bag and pulled out the AP chemistry textbook we use for class. Cindy flipped the page to where I noticed she had it bookmarked and scooted closer to me._

"_So maybe it's just me but I cannot understand this." Passing me the book, I noticed it was open to the middle of the chapter on this week's lesson. Cindy didn't turn to look at me probably because of what she had done. She wasn't asking for help, as we both knew she would never use those words, but she was definitely insinuating that we should take a look at it._

_I'm not going to lie, it was nice._

_We were sitting here talking about school, working together civilly. No fighting, no arguing. Just a nod of understanding or a confused brow furrow here and there. I was helping her, an act she would deny if you said it to her. She wasn't yelling, telling me I was wrong or calling me names at how much information I knew about the topic. _

_Something had happened between us. A new development in our relationship. And if I was right in identifying it, which I usually was, then our friends with benefits thing was now actually making sense by definition. _

_I had no plans in asking her why she had asked for my assistance or even making a comment on it. But as she was packing up her things to leave, I really couldn't hold it back._

"_So what was up with that?"_

"_What?" She said as she zipped up her backpack._

"_The not understanding the chemistry lesson. Usually you would never let me find out if you couldn't grasp something related to school."_

_She shrugged as if it was really no big deal. "I was having trouble and I know you know. Given how close we are lately, I figured it would be okay if I asked for your..." She stopped herself before she could say the word. "advice." And that was as close as I was going to get._

"_Well, I hope my advice worked." She smiled, noticing what I was doing._

"_It did. Thank you."_

"_You're welcome. I suppose we can expect more of that now that we're friends."_

"_Friends?" She turned to face me, speaking as if she had never heard of the word before._

"_Yeah, friends." I said to test her, knowing that she was just playing around._

"_We're friends?" This time she asked as if she truly wasn't aware of it. I chose my next words very carefully. _

"_I like to think so, yes. And now I guess we're study partners as well."_

"_Huh. Friends." She said, still caught up on it, like she was trying it out for the first time ever. "I suppose we are friends now, aren't we?" I nodded._

"_Friends who like to do this." I kissed her unexpectedly and she quickly returned it._

_Fifteen minutes later, with her hair disarrayed yet again and my hair not doing much better, we sat up, and she prepared to leave for real this time._

"_So we're study partners now too, huh? Don't think I didn't hear what else you said." She asked as she was standing up to go._

"_Yeah, we are. If that's okay with you."_

"_Of course. With how difficult these classes are going to get, we'll need it. So is there any way I can return the favor you so graciously gave me today?"_

_I thought for a second._

"_Well, I'm not entirely too fond of our good friend Shakespeare at the moment."_

"_You don't like Macbeth?" She sounded extremely surprised._

"_You can't like something you don't understand, Cindy."_

"_Oh my God..." She shook her head jokingly. "Alright. Tomorrow I'm going to come over, same time as usual, and we'll go over the entire play, what we've read so far, step by step. Or I guess in this case, it's scene by scene and act by act."_

_I smiled gratefully. "Sounds awesome."_

_She confirmed with a nod. "I'll see you tomorrow." Those were her final words before she slung her backpack over her shoulder and left._

True to our word, we've been meeting up ever since then and doing more than fulfilling our hormonal satisfaction.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not complaining about the development in our relationship. It's just a strange experience. And it's even weirder, I'm sure, to see it.

Unlike our arrangement, we're not hiding the fact that we've become friends. We sure haven't made a spectacle about it, but we're aware that people are noticing. With us laughing and talking about school or what our weekend plans are, it would be impossible for others, primarily Sheen, Carl, and Libby, to not notice.

I've seen the looks they throw our way or to each other, silently asking if the other knows what's going on. Cindy has too. But, for some reason, none of them have ever posed questions. We both take this to mean that while confused of its origin and development, they were, at the very least, accepting of our friendship.

Which is why I was surprised when I saw Libby standing under the threshold of my film class, one of the two that I don't have with Cindy, right as everyone left and I was the last person remaining in the room. I rarely ever see Libby without Cindy or even Libby without Sheen, but even though there's nothing uncomfortable about seeing her alone, I didn't really understand why.

"Libby. Hey." She smiled politely at me. "Um, Cindy's not in this class and I don't have any with Sheen-."

"I know, I know." She held up her hand showing that she was understanding. "I'm here to talk to you actually."

Oh?

"Um sure." I said awkwardly, not really knowing where she was going with this. "So what's up?"

"I'm just going to keep this short and jump straight to the point: What's going on between you and Cindy?"

And that would explain how our friends were taking our new development.

"What do you mean?" I replied, pretending I really had no idea what she was talking about.

"You know what I mean." She gave me a look. "You two have been very... friendly, nice even, to each other lately. It's... a little off, to be totally honest. You don't fight or argue anymore. It's kind of creeping us out a little bit."

"You, Sheen, and Carl?"

"Yeah. So what's up with that?"

I shrugged, not really knowing what to say. I certainly wasn't going to tell her about the arrangement Cindy and I had, only that we had become friends. But it didn't seem like she would believe that.

"We're just friends now. Don't see why that's so weird."

"Because it's the two of you. You've known each for years. You have had all this time to become friends. So why now? What caused it?"

"We're growing up, I guess. Time to let go of our childish past and move on." I thought on the spot, but quickly realized how plausible that actually sounded. It didn't seem to be good enough for her though, since she gave me a look that said that that wasn't the answer she was hoping for.

"Look, I don't want to pressure you into telling me anything you're not comfortable with, but would this have anything to do with what happened at Britney's party?" She asked somewhat hesitant. Libby's a good person. I've never had a problem with her of any kind and being my best friend's girlfriend means I have some sort of a bond with her too. So even though I know she means well, I have to be honest in saying that she needs to mind her own business.

"No offense, Libby, but I'd rather not talk to you about that." I started to walk towards the door which only resulted in her standing in front of it to prevent me from leaving.

"I figured that. But after talking to Sheen and Carl about it, we decided that it would be best if I talked to you. They wouldn't get anything out of you because you'll just shrug it off and think nothing of it and they'll just accept that. So we thought that maybe if I talked to you, you'd be more open about what's going on with you two. Same with Cindy. Carl and Sheen are on their way to talk to her right now."

"That's going to go well." I replied sarcastically.

"We're just concerned. You're finally getting along and we're happy about that. But as your friends, I think even you can agree that we have some sort of right to know how." She explained.

"Well, sorry to disappoint you but there's not much to it. It doesn't take some miracle for two people to become friends."

"It does for the two of you."

The last thing I wanted to do was get into an unnecessary argument with Libby over this, even though a small part of me knew she was right.

"It's funny." I started, hoping this statement would be the end of this conversation. "You're one of the people who wanted me and Cindy to be friends more than anything. And now that it's happened, you're questioning it? Doesn't_ that_ seem a little off to you?" She looked dejected and I knew that she had given up. Without another word, I walked past her and out into the hallway.

* * *

><p><strong>Cindy's POV<strong>

If I thought I was the slightest bit crazy back when I agreed to Neutron's plan, it's nothing compared to how I feel now that we've been at it for six weeks.

I'd be a liar for saying I wasn't enjoying it, because what other reason would I have for going down to the lab nearly four times a week? I suppose there is the whole now we're study buddies thing, but that didn't start until three weeks later. In general though, and I'll deny it if he ever found out I think this, this might be one of his better ideas.

After the events of Britney's party, I didn't really know what to think. I had never been in a situation like that before, let alone with Neutron. Libby, knowing when to back off, didn't prod me about the actual details of it anymore than the morning after but being my best friend, I knew she was the one I wanted to talk to the most. Talk about what though, I don't exactly know.

I suppose there is a reason why I winded up half naked in bed with Jimmy of all people, and it wasn't only because I was dared to kiss him. Looking back on it, I do have a slight fear of what would have happened had Libby not interrupted us. What I don't like to think about is the consequences of that.

Apart from the day we set our friends with benefits boundaries, we haven't talked about that night. It's almost as if it didn't happen even though it was the whole basis for us starting this arrangement in the first place.

But it did happen. I'll never forget it.

The good thing that came out of it, I would say, is this newfound friendship with Jimmy. I mean, we wouldn't exactly be friends with benefits if we weren't really friends, would we? But I suppose it is about time we put our differences aside and spend our time doing something progressive to our relationship.

I was a little surprised when he mentioned it three weeks ago, but I was genuinely happy that he did. And if I'm being honest, this studying and doing schoolwork together thing is helping tremendously. Even though it does seem to be freaking out our friends.

Sure, we haven't made a big proclamation about Jimmy and mine's friendship, but I know people can tell. Libby, Sheen, and Carl, the friends closest to us, are surely the most curious. I can tell by the looks they give each other and they've no doubt talked about it when Jimmy and I aren't around. But since they haven't asked anything, Jimmy and I felt no need to offer an explanation.

And that seemed to be the way it was going to be until I opened the gym doors as I was leaving class and saw Sheen and Carl leaning against the wall.

"What do you two doing here?" I asked as I approached them. "I don't think Libby would be happy that you're trying to peep into the girls' locker room, Sheen. And Carl, I know you have somewhat of a reputation, but I expected better from you."

"We're here to talk to you, Cindy." Carl ignored me and said.

"And just what is so important that it couldn't wait until I've had a shower?"

"We'll keep this short." Sheen spoke this time. "What's up with you and Jimmy?" I was immediately confused and I'm sure my face showed it.

"What makes you think anything's up with me and Jimmy?"

"That! That right there!" Sheen jumped and point at me as if I had said something wrong.

"What?" I said, annoyed.

"You called him by his name." Carl explained calmly.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I wasn't aware I need written consent from him to do that. Shall I go get him?" I took a step away to which they crossed their arms and stood in my way. "What do you think? That by cornering me you're going to get an answer? Move."

"Not until you tell us why you and Jimmy have been getting along so well lately."

"Same reason you do. We're friends."

"But why? How? What happened?" Carl pressured.

"Well, I guess after a while, we didn't mind seeing each other all the damn time. That work for you?"

"Not really." Sheen said.

"It's just a little strange, Cindy." Carl continued. "One day, you two can barely stand being in the same room and the next, you're laughing like old friends with a big secret." I perked up at him using the word 'secret', with a sliver of fear running through me. "So as your friends, we have a right to know what's going on. If it at all has something to do with what happened at Britney's party-." He did not get to finish that sentence.

"Look," I said, starting to get angry. "that's not something you mention out loud. Ever. If Jimmy told you what happened, that's because he trusts you two and he wouldn't want you to speak a word of it to anyone. Even to me. Now, I'll admit that I have the tiniest bit of appreciation for your concern but you really need to mind your own business. Jimmy and I are friends now, no explanation needed. You know, for two people who've wanted him and I to stop fighting for years, you don't seem all that pleased that it's finally happened." I looked at the two of them and I could tell that they done trying to get something out of me. "Are we good?"

I noticed the two of them nod their heads and they stepped to the side, allowing me to walk through. I did just that without looking back at them.

**Kind of a lengthy author's note, so bare with me. Or skip to the last paragraph where I have an important message. **

**So it's not that I don't care about Jimmy and Cindy's educations, but I really don't want to go into the details of what they learn in their AP classes, mainly because I have no idea what they would learn in the majority of them. And believe it or not, searching online for information is really not as easy as it may seem. So forgive me if I casually and not-so-cleverly glaze over that with only brief mentions and especially if I sound ignorant at any point.**

**Secondly: I know. Friends with benefits do not hang out for purposes apart from getting the job done. Nor is it meant to make them closer. But the relationship between these two goes far beyond that, we know it does. It will never be 'just' something with them. There's always something more.**

**So I also have an announcement. Earlier this week, I started the spring semester. So since I'll be busy with school, I'm sorry to say that updates will be less frequent. To be honest, I am really surprised that I got out this many chapters in this short amount of time. Thank you guys for understanding and hopefully you don't forget about me! Hoped you enjoyed this chapter and please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Well, that didn't take long at all. The semester hasn't gotten hectic yet and with having a couple days off due to the snowpocalypse blizzard that actually wasn't, I wrote this. As always, I hope you enjoy! **.

**Jimmy's POV**

"You are never going to believe what happened yesterday." Cindy said as she got up from the mattress I set out for her to land on and began walking towards me.

"Carl and Sheen confronted you after class and asked what was going on with us." She looked at me, shocked. "Libby did the same to me."

"You're kidding! I was with her earlier. She never mentioned a word." She said as she accepted and opened the Purple Flurp I offered her.

"Probably because of how badly it went. I told her that we're now friends and to not worry about how or why it happened but the important thing is that it did."

"I said more or less the same to them. Only I was probably more aggressive about it than you were."

"I'm sure you were." I replied, sipping from my own can. She leaned against the table as I was doing.

"Did um- did she mention that Britney's party could be a reason for it?" Cindy asked somewhat nervously. It took me a few seconds to realize why. Apart from the day we made our agreement, we've never spoke about the events of that party.

"Yeah." I started slowly. "She asked if it might have anything to do with why we're so close lately."

"And what did you say?" She turned to face me.

"That I would rather not to her about that." I looked at her.

"Same." She nodded. "Only when Carl mentioned it, I put him, and by extension Sheen, in his place. That they can't talk about that in public. It's...it's done. It shouldn't be brought up again." She said those words, but something about her delivery made it sounds as if she wasn't entirely sure of what she said.

After a moment of silence, Cindy let out a gasp, as if she had suddenly remembered something.

"Carl did say something that seemed a little suspicious."

"What?"

"He said -and I'm paraphrasing here- that now it's like we're old friends with some big _secret._" I definitely noticed her emphasis on that last word.

"Well, that's an oddly specific choice of word.."

"You haven't said anything, right? Even the slightest thing that would give it away?"

"Absolutely not. We agreed."

"I know. I know." She then looked away, as if thinking about something. "But do you think it really would be that bad if they did know?" I sharply turned to face her. She can't be serious. "I mean, look, obviously we're acting funny and our friends, our best friends in the world, have noticed. Even though their method of asking us about it was a bit peculiar, they are not going to give up on this. Telling them we're friends now did not work. It's only been six weeks, meaning that we're going to get closer and they are going to get more suspicious. So even if you'll probably be against it, I think we should tell them the truth."

The irony here is that she's the one that made up the rule about keeping this between the two of us.

"Normally, we both know I wouldn't want Carl and Sheen knowing about my intimate personal life, but I have to say, they've impressed me with keeping the whole us at Britney's house thing a secret. I thought for sure the whole town would know by now, with those two knowing. But I'm confident in telling them about this. Besides, I really do want to tell Libby about it. But I didn't want to do so without your consent. So what do you think?"

To be completely honest, I wasn't sure. Just because I didn't make up that rule doesn't mean I do want people knowing about mine and Cindy's arrangement. Currently, it seemed that she had more trust in Carl and Sheen than I did. I somehow knew they wouldn't say anything about Cindy and I hooking up at Britney's party, but now that we decided to continue it... well, that piece of information sure would appear to be news worthy. Same goes for Libby and considering her extremely open and honest relationship with Sheen, it's inevitable of the two of them finding out even if only one of them knew.

Despite all these thoughts, I didn't say anything, leading Cindy to continue trying to persuade me.

"If anything, they can be used as a cover."

"A cover?"

"We've been lucky enough not to get caught yet, but that's not to mean that it'll never happen. If we do decide to start sneaking around publicly, like we've been talking about, the chances will be higher. So we'll get one of them to cover for us."

I looked at her, understanding what she was saying but still not sure if everything she was saying were good enough reasons. Still trying to convince me, she kept going.

"I can't think of a specific example right now, but in general, maybe it really would be best to have them know. You can't tell me that you haven't been feeling guilty for keeping it from them all this time." I gave her a nod of recognition. I had indeed been feeling bad about keeping this from my two best friends.

"Sooner or later, they may even figure it out on their own." I put in, acknowledging that to be a real possibility. She nodded in agreement with slight smile, like she was glad I caught that since she had missed it. And then it seemed, I decided that this whole secret should be extended to the knowledge of three more people. "Libby will be upset that you didn't tell her."

"She'll get over it. Carl and Sheen will be happy that you told them. Bro Code and all." I chuckled. "So it's decided then? We'll tell them?"

"You realize this breaks rule number one of our arrangement right? The rule that you made up." I decided to tell her. She had convinced me that it would be okay to tell our friends, but I wanted to make sure she knew what she was doing.

"I know. But it's not like we didn't try to keep it a secret." I nodded, accepting the final word.

"So tomorrow? We'll tell them tomorrow so that they find out at the same time?" I suggested.

"Sure." She agreed and gave a relieved yet tense laugh.

"Are you nervous?" I asked.

"A little." She admitted. "I mean, how does one go about saying something like this? And to your best friend?" I nodded, knowing exactly what she means.

"Yeah, I don't know how I'm going to bring it up either. I guess we'll just go for it. Just spit it out."

"Yeah." She replied, but I could still tell she was apprehensive about it. "So, what do you want to go over first? History or Calc? Or there is the third option."

"What?"

With a small smirk, she answered. "Neither." She instantly stood on her tippy-toes and pressed her lips against mine.

* * *

><p>"So what do you need to talk to us about?" Sheen said as he and Carl made their way over to me. For privacy reasons, I had asked them to meet me in the lab at five o'clock. This would give Libby and Cindy time to get back to Libby's house after her yearbook committee meeting. We weren't kidding when we said we wanted to let them know at the exact same time.<p>

"Err, you might want to sit down for this." I warned.

"Oh, what did you blow up this time, Jimmy?" Carl asked teasingly.

"Haha." Although I didn't find it funny, a bit of humor before I do this might be good.

"But really, what's so urgent that you had us come down here at this exact time?" Carl asked, equally as curious as Sheen.

"Or do you have something on an alarm that's about to blow up?" Sheen asked excitedly, and I had to admit that it was a pretty clever conclusion.

"No Sheen." Once I saw that they were seated and their attention was on me, I began. "So Cindy told me that you two spoke to her the other day." I wasn't asking, since I clearly knew the answer., but I wanted to see how they would react.

Their response was similar to what I expected.

"Jimmy, I tried to talk them out of it and told them it wasn't a good idea." Carl instantly defended himself.

"No you didn't!" Sheen exclaimed in Carl's direction. "Look, we all know that Libby is the one who wanted to get down to the bottom of it. My girl just dragged us into it, but that doesn't mean I don't care, Jimmy, because I do."

"Does that have to do with what you need to talk to us about?" Carl asked, getting back to the matter at hand. I nodded.

"Aw, man are you going to tell us what's going on with you and Cindy? And don't just tell us that you're friends now, because as weird as we think it is, we get that." Sheen guessed correctly and Carl nodded in agreement by his side.

"Yeah, well there is something more that we haven't told you guys."

"Well, finally!" Sheen threw his arm up exasperatedly. "Tell me you're going to tell us what it is." Before I could open my mouth to speak, Carl beat me to it.

"Sheen, he is under no obligation to tell us anything he doesn't want to."

"He wants to! He was about to before you so rudely interrupted him!"

"But now he's just saying it because he feels bad and wants you to stop pressuring him."

"No, he's telling us because we're his friends and he knows we have a right to know."

"Guys!" I stopped their arguing and hoped that making myself known, they would remember who had gathered them here. "So what I'm going to tell you is, I guess, how and why Cindy and I have been getting along better lately." A silent agreement to keep quiet had gone through them and they faced me, ready for what I was going to say.

I looked at each of them. I know Cindy and I decided that we were going to tell them the truth but trying to figure out how to start would always be the hard part. No better place than the beginning, I suppose.

"So you know how after what happened at the party, on the first day of school, Cindy and I talked about it?" Nods came from both of them. "Well, we did, like I told you. Only there was...more to it than that."

"Okay..." Sheen said signaling that he understood and that I should keep going. This was the hard part. Even though I was fine telling them what was going on with me and Cindy, I didn't really want to use that exact phrase to explain it.

"We...also agreed that we would occasionally, casually start... hooking up." I answered as honestly as possible. My best friends seemed to understand what I was saying, even if neither said anything

Finally, it was Carl who broke the silence.

"And by hooking up, you mean...?"

"We're not having sex." I clarified. I knew one of them would jump to that conclusion.

"Not yet anyway." Sheen put in. I threw him a look "What? Jimmy, you're smart and all but I hope you have some common sense. I don't know how far you two have gone but if you keep this up, you are going to do it. And I know this isn't what you want to hear, especially now that you two are good, but everything's going to change when you do. Girls take sex very seriously. So believe me when I say that it's going to be a game changer."

"We're not even dating." I reminded him, thinking that might have made a difference.

"Doesn't matter." Carl spoke this time. "Whatever your relationship is, it changes, and not always for the better, once you sleep together. Especially if it's your first time."

"Would it be her first time?" Sheen asked. I shrugged, lying about if I knew or not because I wanted to maintain her privacy.

"Have you two talked about having sex? Has it ever been brought up?" asked Carl a lot more tactfully than Sheen.

"No." I replied, pulling up a chair and sitting on it since now it seemed like they were having a talk with me.

"Well," he continued carefully, as if he thought he would upset me with what he was going to say next. "Do you want to?" And, in terms of how I should answer, that was perhaps the hardest question I was asked today. "You're human, Jim, no one would blame you." He assured me.

"And it's Cindy. Seriously, dude, no one would blame you." Sheen added. Realizing we wouldn't move on from this subject until I answered, I did so in a way that hopefully they would understand.

"I haven't not thought about it." I answered truthfully. Thankfully, neither one of them began teasing me about it.

"Well then, if you want my suggestion," began Sheen, and I was extremely surprised to find that I did actually want it, "you should talk to her." He said with a shrug as if it really was that simple. "You're never going to know if she feels the same way unless you do."

"Never thought I'd say this, but Sheen's right. If it's crossed your mind at all and you really don't think you can go much longer without doing anything about it, then you should, at the very least, bring it up." Even though I knew they were right, we all knew that was easier said than done. "Have you guys gone far enough that you feel you need to talk about it?"

"No. But you-you guys are right." I tried to avoid telling them just how far Cindy and I have gone and hopefully they wouldn't think much of it if they knew I agreed with them.

It wasn't until then that I realized that I had never actually gotten their opinions on mine and Cindy's arrangement.

"So apart from that, the whole me and Cindy thing. Are we okay about it? You guys are fine with it?"

"It's not really up to us to be fine with it, is it?" Carl said. "If you and Cindy are okay with it, then that's all that important."

"We're just happy you told us so that we don't have to worry about it anymore. What you do with Cindy is up to you, if you know what I mean." Sheen replied with a wink, to which Carl nudged him with his elbow.

"Great." I chose to ignore Sheen's comment. "Glad that's settled."

* * *

><p><strong>Cindy's POV<strong>

"So what's this super important thing you had to tell me that you couldn't until we got here?" Libby asked me, unaware of how serious this actually was. As she took a seat on her dark purple comforter, I made sure to shut the door behind me. Now that the literal moment of truth was on us, I realized how much of a good idea it was to come to Libby's house instead of my own. I did not want to run the risk of either one of my parents being able to hear us.

I turned around slowly on the spot, not knowing where or how to start. I had never, in my entire friendship with Libby, kept a secret this big and this long from her. So while she could take it one of two ways, I knew the best shot I had at getting a calm, relaxed reaction from her depended greatly on my word choice for telling her.

"You know how you talked to Jimmy the other day at school? Just the two of you?" With a raised eyebrow and single nod, she replied.

"I should have known he would tell you about that."

"Yeah well, he was totally in his right to do so. Just like you had every right to simply ask me if you had a question about me and him."

"The only question I had was how the hell it happened. I love that you're friends now." She stood up and continued to explain. "You know I've wanted this for the two of you for a really long time. But it just seemed so out of the blue that it took all of us by surprise. Carl, Sheen, and I wanted to ask what was going on but we knew you would never tell us if I asked you and they asked him. So we mixed it up a bit thinking you would tell us. You're not mad, are you?"

Leave it to Libby to think I'm mad at her when I was the one who made the mistake.

"Absolutely not! No, I'm-I'm not mad at you. I should have just told you from the beginning what was going on. I'm sorry that I freaked you out. But I've-we've, Jimmy and I, have decided to tell you -and Carl and Sheen- how we became friends."

"Oh!" she exclaimed, probably not expecting it but glad to finally be getting an answer. "Great so, what is it?" She sat back down, not knowing that the news might actually make her want to take a seat.

"Err." If I had thought that I was fully prepared to tell her about this, nothing could have unprepared me more than when I actually had to do it. "So I know you think that the events of Britney's party have something to do with it, and they do. Sort of." Thinking she would say something, I paused. When I realized that she wasn't, I kept going. "You know how on the first day of school, I went over to the lab so we could talk about it?" She nodded this time. "Well, we did and um, while it wasn't a really long discussion, we moved on from that and talked about something else."

"Oh, okay. What?"

"Well, basically." I found that I could not keep still and talk about this at the same time. While wringing my hands, I walked over to the other side of her bed and paced a few steps in either direction. She turned and looked up at me. She didn't seem impatient but I also didn't want to make her wait any longer. "After talking about it, Jimmy and I decided to become" No turning back now, "friends with... benefits."

I never realized how much I dislike that phrase until now.

"Uh huh." She replied, so unlike how I thought she would. "So... you two are having sex then." She said it as a statement rather than a question. It was hard to miss the hurt tone in her voice, most likely because of the fact that this is how she was finding out about it.

"Wha-? No! Oh God, no! We've never gotten anywhere close to that. Libby, come on, you know I would have told you if that ever happened."

"Well, you weren't exactly jumping at the chance to tell me you two were friends with benefits."

"We weren't telling anybody. We were just keeping it between the two of us. But now we're ready to tell the three of you the truth. We trust you guys a lot so we're comfortable with you knowing. You just have to promise not to tell anybody."

"Do you really have to remind me of that?" She asked, and I knew she wouldn't like the fact that it sounded like I was accusing her of blabbing.

"It _is_ a juicy piece of gossip." I declared, hoping that would lighten her up.

Luckily, she smiled.

"It is. If someone else finds out, though, you have no idea how quickly this will spread through school. You and Jimmy are quite publicized." I gave a tight smile and decided not to comment on that.

"So we're good?" I asked, wishing everything was now okay between the two of us.

"Yes. Of course, we're good. I'm just happy that you told me. And don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

"Thanks." I smiled, being thoroughly happy that I now had this secret off my shoulders. Libby smiled in return, but unlike mine, hers didn't seem to be going away. It wasn't until she raised her eyebrows that I realized she was trying to tell me something.

"What?" I asked, having absolutely no idea what she could want.

"Well, I know you two aren't doing it. But you didn't tell me how far you _have_ gotten! Come on, spill!"

"Libby..." I groaned. I was dreading her asking me this question.

"Cindy, come on. I'm your best friend. Besides, I've told you about all the stuff Sheen and I have done."

"Despite the fact that I never actually asked." I quietly reminded her. The look on her face told me that that wasn't a strong enough argument. Sighing, knowing there was no way out of it, I began. "Not very far, I swear. Usually we're in the lab because it's private, but this one time, almost a month ago, we were in his room instead. And well, we got up to, I guess it was second base. Under the clothes, over the bra, but no below the belt stuff. Except for when I wrapped my legs around his waist."

"Hmm." I noticed how much she had paid attention and I found that I was glad I had told her. "See, that wasn't so hard was it?"

"No." I admitted. "Does this mean I have to tell you whenever Jimmy and I move past that?"

"Only if you want to. I hope you do though, because I'm always here to listen. And provide advice, if needed."

I smiled. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Good." She nodded. "So can you promise you won't get mad if I ask you this?"

"What?" I asked hesitantly, knowing I probably wouldn't but still weary.

"Now that you and Jimmy have been at this for a while now, have you ever actually considered having sex with him?" I took a while to answer this, not because I was getting mad but because I was trying how to best answer. The truth was that, yes, I have thought about it.

"You don't have to answer if you don't want to." Libby must have misunderstood my silence.

"I-I have actually. I have thought about it."

"Oh." She sounded surprised, not so much at my answer, but the fact that I actually said it out loud.

"But that doesn't mean I'm going to tell him to have his way with me next time I see him."

"Of course not. No one's saying that you should. But with you two being in this...thing, it's good that you're open to the idea."

"Really?"

"Mmm Hmm. Most of the time these types of relationships do end up in sex, so the fact that you're aware of that already eliminates a problem."

"That does make sense." I nodded in agreement.

"And Cindy, let's be real. Jimmy may be one of the smartest people on the planet, but at the end of the day, he's a teenage boy. So if you're thinking about it, he is definitely thinking about it." I smiled weakly, knowing that she was right.

And that was a fact I was not entirely sure I could handle.

**So, as you can see we're getting into a bit more mature territory here. Fear not. Remember the story's rating. I can't, and won't, go too much into detail. At least not here, but I'll get more into that later. For now I just hope that you enjoyed the chapter and are not being totally close minded about the adult theme that's starting to peek out. A quick reminder that the next chapter won't be out for a while due to that pesky little thing called school. But don't forget about me or the story! Thanks for the support and please review!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Thank you guys for your patience. Here's chapter six!**

**Cindy's POV**

"So how did it go?" I piped up as soon as I reached the bottom of the chute and landed in the lab. I really couldn't contain my curiosity to how his side of the truth-telling went.

"Not nearly as badly as I anticipated." He explained as he reached his hands out to pull me up. "You were right. They're totally fine with it."

"I usually am. Good, that's great. One less huge stress off our shoulders."

"Yup. And with Libby?"

"She's not mad, thankfully. Just happy that I finally told her what was up with us. I don't know why we were so worried to begin with. We should have known they would be fine with it."

"And that they're not going to tell anyone."

"That too, most importantly." I remembered how Libby swore to keep it a secret.

"Did she say anything else?" He asked. Well, there was the whole her asking me if I have ever thought about going all the way with the local teen genius, but I certainly wasn't going to tell him that. Especially that I admitted that I was indeed thinking about it.

"No." I lied. "We talked about the yearbook for a bit and then I went home." That wasn't a lie at all. We really had discussed this year's issue of the yearbook. "You?"

"No. Just Carl and Sheen fighting over if I should tell them the truth or not, but nothing else really." I nodded. "So no work today?" He seemed to notice my lack of schoolbooks.

I shrugged. "Well, with your help, it's been getting easier to understand everything and you finally seem to be getting the hang of _The Grapes of Wrath. _With telling our friends about us and all, I thought that today we could just take a little study break." Although I didn't necessarily mean it in such an inappropriate way, Jimmy's growing smirk only said that he was catching what I was throwing his way.

"Sounds like a fine idea you've got there." He said as he approached me.

"I'm glad you think so." I whispered because of how close we had gotten in the short amount of seconds.

It wasn't that much longer until I was straddling him and we were both finding it difficult to catch our breaths. He took my bottom lip between his and sucked it, eliciting a whimper from the back of my throat that I knew we both could hear no matter how quiet I thought I was being. That made an idea pop into my head that I would be sure to mention when we were done.

I brought myself closer to him, placing my arms around his neck. I felt his hands leave my hips and was surprised near to the point of pulling away when they landed where my thighs met my butt and he pulled me even closer to him. I didn't even notice that I was involuntarily rocking into him until the groan escaped his lips and he moved them to my neck to kiss a line down my chest and across my neck line, peeking his tongue out as he went.

Finally being to catch my breath and think a bit straight, I thought about what Libby and I had spoken about. I agree with her when she says that Jimmy has definitely been thinking about sex. And from what I can see, he's likely thinking about it at this exact moment.

I don't mind that. I really don't. But if we were going to go any farther than what we're currently doing, I needed to make sure that I knew where we stood. Because of this, I put my hand on his chest and gently pushed against him. He pulled away somewhat reluctantly and due to our lack of eye contact, it seemed neither one of us were were capable of looking at the other.

Through his deep breath, he let out, "Umm, sorry. That was a bit much, huh?" Now he turned to look at me.

"No, it's- it's fine. I just wasn't expecting that to happen so...quickly." I looked at him as well. He nodded. Even though I did have a hint of suspicion that he was about to bring up the sex conversation, I found that a part of me didn't want to get into that right now, especially in our current position. So before he could say anything else, I began climbing off him.

"Alright, well..." I said as I brushed my hair to one side and turned to leave.

"Wait. Don't-don't leave yet. I want to talk to you about something."

Oh God.

But I couldn't really just leave with that hanging in the air, could I?

"Yeah?" I asked with a shaky breath and turned back around. By that way I answered, he could probably tell that I knew what he wanted to talk about.

"So umm," he seemed to start out confidently but something in his tone said that he did not want to talk about this nearly as much as he knew we should. "how does it feel now that your best friend knows about us?"

"Oh." I let out a laugh, releasing the trepidation I had about the conversation he clearly chose to avoid for now. "Um, well, good. Just a big relief, you know?" I said strongly, giving no indication that I thought we would be entering an entirely different discussion.

"Yeah, I'll say. Now when we tell them we're busy or have plans, they'll already know with what."

"Yeah." I smiled, agreeing with him. It then occurred to me that to dissolve all awkwardness, and get onto something I knew we're both comfortable with, I should mention what I had thought about in the middle of our...session. Admittedly, it's something that I've been thinking for a while, but now that our friends know, like I said the other day, we can afford to be a little less careful. Plus, seeing that Jimmy brought it up originally, even if he was just kidding about it, there's not much of a chance of him disagreeing. With that in mind, I spoke. "Are you going to the homecoming game tomorrow night?"

"Is that a serious question?" He replied. I threw him a look. "I hadn't planned on it. Why?"

Here was my chance. I thought again quickly if I should share my idea with him. It sounds good in theory and it's not like we would be the first ones to ever do this. Still, he's in his right to object to it. Guess I'll never know unless I tell him.

"Well, I was thinking-."

"Aw, Cindy, you know how dangerous that is for you." He teased.

"Shut up!" I laughed at his joke, knowing he was just kidding.

"What were you thinking about?" He asked when he came back from his own chortle.

"You know how we are talking about what it would be like if we were to do this publicly? Like out in the open, but hidden?"

"I'm listening." He said, picking his head up.

"If we were to meet tomorrow night, during the game, under the bleachers, semi-secluded, would you be okay with that?"

I could already see the smile growing on his lips.

"We could get caught." He breathed, but I couldn't tell if he was saying it as a warning or a contributing factor.

"That's part of the thrill, isn't it?" I said as I walked over to him.

"Look at you all adventurous." He observed.

"Hanging out with you all these years has prepared me for that." Once I reached him, I stood on my tippy toes. Placing my hands gently on his stomach for balance, I began leaving kisses along his jawline, just like I knew he liked. "So what do you say?" I asked once I practically felt the growl in his chest.

Without warning, he turned his head and captured my lips in a heated, unexpected kiss. I kissed him back briefly before remembering that he hadn't replied.

I pulled away and reminded him of his pending answer.

"Is that supposed to be a yes?"

"Yes." He let out. "To both questions."

"Okay. I'll go with Libby, you go with the boys, and I'll let you know a meeting time."

"Alright."

With a departing smile, I turned, grabbed my jacket, and left with a nervous -and excited- feeling growing inside me.

* * *

><p><strong>Jimmy's POV<strong>

Damn.

I knew from the beginning that having this type of relationship, particularly with Cindy, would be difficult. I haven't thought much about how long it would go on for, because I primarily focused on how far it would go. It wasn't a lie or a trick when I confirmed to Carl and Sheen that I was thinking about having sex with her. As Carl said, I'm only human. And while nothing should change between Cindy and I now that our friends know, that's not exactly how it felt.

Just now, when she was down here, is a prime example. It's almost as if now that other people apart from me know that I want her physically, I have to have her by all means. And that's not that way it works at all. Just because we're in this for each other's satisfaction, doesn't mean one of us, in this case, me, should get more out it than they are receiving.

For that reason, I tried talking to her about it before she left. Sheen's right in saying that she's not going to know the direction I want to take things unless I tell her. But I found having that conversation to be a lot more difficult than the one where I had to tell my best friends the truth. So naturally, I chickened out. I may be a genius, but I cannot come up with a way to tell Cindy that I want to take our physical relationship to the next level without her freaking out or calling me some hormone crazed pig. That being said, I'm glad she stopped us when she did.

Every time we're together, I ask myself how far we're going to go before one of us decides to stop. I'll admit, it's never gotten as far as I imagine or would like, but that doesn't mean that I'm always hoping for sex. However, I suppose it does mean something that Cindy is the one to stop us before things get too out of hand. It's alright though, because I'd rather she stop us before she gets uncomfortable and the two of us do something we're not ready for.

But that apparently won't stop her from suggesting another idea that I admittedly was more comfortable with.

A couple of weeks ago, I, as a joke, proposed that to prevent boredom, Cindy and I should take our usual secluded activity to a more public vicinity and of course, be careful not to get caught. I know that it gets tedious for her and even for me to be down here all the time, so I said it mainly to lighten the mood when she seemed particularly pouty about it. She did let out a laugh then so I didn't think she took it seriously. A few days after that, however, she brought it up and seemed to actually be serious about it. As she puts up a convincing argument, she slowly but surely got me to open up more to the idea. So much so that it even became a reason for telling our friends about us. And now, it seems, she has found the perfect place for us to make our not-so-public debut.

And I was actually very excited about it.

Normally, I wouldn't be caught dead surrounded by such high school frivolity that exists at a homecoming football game. But then again, I'm not going so I can watch the game, see the cheerleaders dance, or view our high school so-called royalty walk under a balloon arch. This is going to be something new, a challenge for the two of us, and when have we ever been the ones to shy away from one?

* * *

><p>As expected, a great amount of the Retroville High student population came out to this apparently very important game. Spirit in the form of school colors was at an all time high (at least from the few times I've gotten to see it) and the cheering was at a decibel I hadn't heard before from my peers in an outdoor arena.<p>

Sheen and Carl were already planning on attending so getting them to go wasn't an issue. As Sheen was going, I knew Libby would as well and eliminate that problem on Cindy's side.

We weren't late, as the game hadn't even started, but we had arrived late enough that there were not any visible seats available. So the five of us ended up leaning on and against the railing that overlooked the football field from the elevated bleachers.

Apart from the pleasantries, the five of us didn't speak much. Carl wandered off shortly after we arrived and Sheen and Libby looked too invested in the other's company to pay much attention to anything else. That left Cindy and I, who could have left at any moment and no one would really notice.

We ended up staying put and watched as the massive football players pointlessly ran through the decorated banner I assumed the cheerleaders had made.

A couple of minutes into the game, Cindy casually turned to me and spoke.

"So I thought of a time we should meet." I barely heard through all the din. I nodded, asking her to continue. "Five minutes left of the second quarter." She pointed at the scoreboard behind me which was counting down time. "Everyone will be getting ready for the halftime show or getting food so I don't think people will be overly concerned with anything that goes on other than that."

"Makes sense." I answered, because I thought it did. "Do you want to go together or...?" I trailed off hoping she would offer an alternative because I knew what I had just provided was not a good idea.

"No, we- we'll go separately. I'll take Libby and go off with her for a bit and I'll meet you at that time right under here. Five minutes. Second quarter." She reminded me, even though there was no way I would forget that.

"Okay." I said as coolly as possible.

She nodded in reply with a hint of a smile as she departed towards the embracing couple that was Libby and Sheen. I'm not sure what Cindy could have said to detach them from one another, but shortly after she approached them, she and Libby went off elsewhere, arms linked, and Sheen, noticing I was now alone, came over to me.

Maybe it was just me or perhaps the scoreboard really was going entirely too slow, even for a football game, but I felt like it was taking eons for there to be five minutes left of the second quarter. I considered making my way down there earlier, just in case Cindy had the same idea. Then I realized how embarrassing it would be if she found me sitting there instead, seemingly waiting impatiently like an idiot.

I first noticed that it was time when I saw the marching band making their way to the side of the field to prepare for their halftime performance. Looking up at the scoreboard only confirmed that it was indeed time that I reunite with Cindy. I told Sheen, who was surprisingly really into the sport that was going on in front of him, that I was going to use the restroom and that I would try to find out where Carl ran off to. Both were lies that probably weren't even necessary, seeing how engrossed he was in the game.

Glancing down at the field once more so that I knew what yard number Cindy and I had been aligned to, I turned and made my way through the crowd of spectators and down the stairs that were farther than I would have liked. It took about a minute, but I was finally able to make it to make it downstairs. I casually walked along the grass until I reached what I thought would be our meeting place. Ducking so I wouldn't hit my head on the steel rod, one of many that held the seats up, I made my way to where I supposed we were to meet. If I arrive first and she doesn't soon after, I'm going to feel very stupid and think that we should have planned this out better.

But as it turns out, that didn't happen.

"Here I was thinking that you weren't going to come." I could make out her silhouette, leaning against the steel bars with her arms folded. But even if I couldn't recognize her, there was no mistaking the sound of her voice.

"And miss an opportunity like this? Never." I replied with a shake of my head. She let out a soft laugh which brought a smile to her face. "Did you really think I would just not show up?"

"No, but I would understand if you wanted to back out. Now that it's actually happening, it is a little bit scary."

"We haven't even done anything yet." I said it like I was reminding her as I approached her.

"I suppose not." Her words came out more like a mumble since she barely moved her lips as she brought them to mine.

Automatically, I could tell that this sneaking around idea was one of her best. There was just something about the thrill of potentially being caught at any moment that heightened the heat between us. When it's just the two of us down in the lab, the only sounds we hear are of us saying each other's name in a staggered breath or the humming of machinery. But here it's totally different. With hundreds of people in the stands chatting, walking around, and the band playing, it's enough to make you want to abandon your current position out of fear and join the crowd. But I'm not going to do that. I don't want to think that way. All I want at the moment is her.

As if I were telling her that, I gently pushed her against the steel bars, entrapping her. I felt her smile into the kiss as she wrapped her arms around my neck. God, she's a great kisser.I never thought I'd ever say that in regards to Cindy Vortex but I also never thought I'd willingly attend a high school football game. But as they say, there is a first time for everything and this, our present situation, was no exception.

Feeling a bit bold, I pressed myself up against her, getting as close as humanly possible. She pulled away in surprise but I couldn't tell if it was in a good or bad way. She didn't say anything though and seemed to be fine with it when I kissed my way up her neck and onto that spot behind her ear that I had only ever kissed once before.

After hearing her near breathless response to that, I don't know what was released inside of me that drove me to a new level. I snaked my arms around her waist and slipped my thumbs under her clothes to touch her bare skin, all while leaving kisses on her exposed neck. Suddenly, I felt her arms leave mine.

I heard her let out my name, but I didn't pay much attention to the way she said it. I couldn't really control it when my hands left her hips and landed on her tight little ass.

"Jimmy, stop it!" She used all her strength to shove me off her. That seemed to be the wake up to whatever was pulling me under. Immediately, I felt like such an asshole.

"Cindy, I'm so sor-." She ran away before I could let another word out.

Oh crap.

I ran after her, not entirely sure what I would do or say when I reached her but knowing that I had to do something. A large crowd had accumulated near the top of the stairs and I had to push past them to be able to catch up to her. Finally, I saw her walking up to Libby and Sheen. Libby turned to tend to her and I was able to get close enough to hear what they were saying.

"Libby, can we-? We need to leave."

"But the second half hasn't even started yet." Libby fought.

"Like you even care Libby. Can we please just go?"

She nodded, apparently understanding that her best friend was longing to leave. As she turned to Sheen to tell her they were going, Cindy noticed that I was standing there. She didn't yell or run to punch me as I was expecting, but instead looked at me hesitantly, neither fearful nor apologetic, not that she had anything to apologize for.

Libby turned back around and the two of them walked quickly away from the field and headed home.

**This last part was SO difficult for me to write. This would have been up hours ago or even last night otherwise. I know you're probably upset with Jimmy and therefore me, but don't worry, everything will be okay. What happened in this chapter will launch a new part of the story that shouldn't surprise you because we've been looking at it. I normally don't tell readers what to expect in an upcoming chapter, but seeing as I really do not know when I'll be updating, I thought I should at least give you something. So thanks for reading. Hopefully, you found something in it that you enjoyed. Reviews?**


	7. Chapter 7

**So here's something I think we've all been waiting for. Enjoy!**

**Cindy's POV**

I have to get some sleep. It's not a school night, nor do I have any reason to get up early tomorrow morning, but I _need _to get some sleep. I cannot let what happened keep me up all night.

I shouldn't even be overthinking this. It's not like it's news. Jimmy Neutron has been thinking of having sex with me, as was proven when I felt him while he was pressed up against me. And I've been thinking the same about him. But even though he doesn't know it, and likely doesn't think it after tonight, why did I act the way I did? Just ran away, like a coward. I mean, yes, there was not the time nor place to do anything or even talk about it, but running away wasn't the solution either.

He didn't do anything wrong. He didn't overstep a boundary or anything like that, considering we don't even have any when it comes to the physical of it all. The only boundaries we had were that no one know about us, which has already been crossed, that there's no strings attached in this, which is still the plan, and that we don't fall for the other, which well, we all know isn't going to happen. But what took place tonight was inevitable. I really should have seen it coming. Out in the open football game or not, this would have happened eventually.

And when it had, what?

Was I expected to just go along with it? Screw all and any consequences? Call me old fashioned, but sex just is not the type of thing I can just _do_, especially for my first time. Luckily, I'm not the only person, let alone girl, who thinks this way.

I carpooled with Libby over to the game, which is why I was insisting that we leave together. She didn't ask me any questions on the drive home and that's probably because by the time we got to the car, I had calmed down enough that I didn't look...well however I must have looked when I ran off from Jimmy. Even though I know I should tell her what happened, I was still making up my mind as to if I wanted to. Thankfully, she hadn't asked me any questions even after she dropped me off. But in a way, I think it would just be redundant.

If I had told her the story, I know exactly what she would say. She wouldn't be mad at Jimmy but she'd still be sympathetic towards me. She'd definitely give me an 'I told you so' in regards to having the talk with him earlier which might have prevented this sort of thing from happening in the first place. Then she would question the real reason I ran away, which she would answer with, since she's so damn smart, that I'm not running away from Jimmy. I'm in fact running from the idea of engaging in this new aspect of a physical relationship that I don't really want to admit I'd rather have with Neutron as opposed to other male peers. Libby would be right, as she usually is, and I would end up semi-reluctantly having to talk to Neutron about the possibility of us having sex.

So therefore, I don't really see a point in telling her.

Besides, all this back and forth banter in my head has resulted in me making up my mind about it. I am indeed positive that I want to lose my virginity to Jimmy Neutron.

Whenever I thought about my first time, I never imagined something over-the-top or sappy like female protagonists do in nineties teen movies. I don't _plan_ to lose it when I'm married as I think it's important to have some experience before then. Location, date, or even the events going on prior to the act also weren't things I think about. Of course, this isn't to mean that I'm just willing to give it up whenever and to whomever. But, ideally, I want it to be with someone who I trust. Someone who will be patient and understanding, who won't laugh at me. Someone who will make me feel good and awkward and comfortable and silly and mature and just everything in between. A friend. One with benefits, it apparently seems to be. I don't mind that it's Jimmy, because in all honesty, I _want_ it to be Jimmy. And it really is time that I tell him that.

I chose to wait until the next day to contact him because even though I wasn't mad, I wanted to at least make him sweat a little bit. So after he texted me back saying that he would be in the lab all day, I made my way over there with a completely new but related purpose. I had barely regained my balance from sliding down the chute when he immediately approached me.

"Cindy! I'm glad you're here. Look, I am so sorry about the other night, I don't know what came over me..."

I couldn't tell if what he was saying was rushed because it sounded so overly rehearsed or he was extremely nervous. I understood what he was trying to say, despite how fast he was speaking. He continued rambling and I was appreciating the apology even though it wasn't entirely necessary. I should say something. I really should. There he is freaking out over something that's not even really worth it since we both know he can't help it. He obviously thinks I must be angry at him, especially seeing that I've given him no reason to think that I'm not. Although he should be smart enough to realize that I'm trying to get past this since I'm the one that came to see him.

Ugh, Neutron. You big-headed, bumbling idiot.

"I want to have sex, Jimmy."

* * *

><p><strong>Jimmy's POV<strong>

What in the name of...?

I stopped talking abruptly. Both because I was starting to repeat myself and due to what Cindy had just said. There's no way she could have...

Did she?

"Err- umm..."

"Oh, _now_ you're out of things to say." She observed as she walked further into the lab, crossing her arms. I turned around and faced her, still in shock by what she said. "_What_?"

I knew that I had to get it together quickly so that I'm not just standing there like a moron. With a couple of blinks and shake of my head, I was finally at a place where I could respond.

"Sorry, I-I just wasn't expecting you to say that. Or think it or feel it-."

"Yeah, I get it. But what, you don't think girls can get sexual feelings and try to act on it?"

"That's not what I'm saying Cindy." I wanted to get my thoughts out before she started getting too defensive. "I'm just surprised. You've never verbally expressed that you wanted that. And you certainly don't show it."

"Just because I'm not ripping your clothes off every chance I get, doesn't mean I'm totally against it."

I swallowed.

"Oh. That's umm... that's good to know." I replied with a nod as I sat down and she looked the other way, probably already embarrassed by that declaration. "So, what made you err...want to." I ended lamely.

"I don't know." She shrugged, not seeming to notice how stupid I just sounded. "We've been in this...thing for some time now and I can't deny that I feel it will eventually get to that point. I mean, it's- it's human nature right?" I nodded. "So... yeah." As glad as I am to hear that she's accepting of it, that didn't seem nearly like a good enough reason.

"So you want to do it just because everyone else is doing it?" I chose those exact words, knowing they would anger her most. She sharply looked up at me.

"Of course not! I-." She looked around anxiously, probably trying to formulate words in her head before speaking them. "I have given this a lot of thought." She started sincerely. "This is something that I want to do. Not because it's cool or any shallow reason, but because I feel that I am ready for that, that sort of relationship. And if I'm being honest, I wouldn't be completely repulsed if it was with you."

"Well, if that's not a turn-on, I don't know what is."

"You are not taking this seriously." She huffed under her breath as she turned away. I got up and started walking towards her.

"What are you talking about? I-."

"I'm a virgin, you know." She reminded and faced me again.

"Yes, I know that. As am I."

She scoffed. "Yeah right."

"Excuse me?" I retorted.

"All you guys say that. 'I've never been with anyone.'" She dropped her voice and tried to imitate some big burly jock who sounded nothing like me. "It's just another tactic to try to get into our pants."

"And you know this because a lot of guys try to get into yours?" I questioned.

"I don't hang out with guys whose sole purpose for being my friend is to try to sleep with me. And if I did, I wouldn't. I'm as pure and innocent as they come."

"Not as of the last two months you're not." I corrected her. She glared at me but didn't say anything.

There was a bit of a pause, which I left open in case she wanted to say anything. She didn't, so I took over instead.

"So you really want to do this?"

"Yes, I do. If you agree with it, I do."

"Whatever you want." I shrugged.

"I'm not going to want to do it if you're going to be all passive about it." She fired back.

"Well, would you rather me overthink it and get all uptight?"

"No, but," She paused, trying to find the right words. "Look, I know I don't take about things like make-up or shopping or the hot new boy band's latest album seriously. But sex is a big deal to me. And I think you should treat it as such too."

"I do think it's a big deal."

"Well, you're not acting like it!"

"I just want you to be comfortable!" I explained. "If you're fine with it and you want to do it, then yeah, it's okay with me. What more do you want?"

"I want to know that you're not just doing it for me. I want you to understand that this is a huge step and you need to be one hundred percent sure about it before you agree to it."

"I promise you, I am. I'm positive about it, okay?"

"Alright, yeah." She answered, finally understanding while I gave a nod of assurance. "Besides, it's not like you don't want to."

"I'm sorry?"

"Oh, come on Neutron. Don't think I haven't noticed how...excited you get whenever we're together. Your hand on my body was not all I felt from you at that football game. It's quite flattering, thank you. But if you wanted to take things to the next level, all you had to do was bring it up. It's not that hard. Unlike you." She smirked.

I looked at her, completely flabbergasted.

"How did you manage to turn this around and make it about me?"

"Because I'm good." She said with a triumphant smile. Suddenly, I thought of something that would potentially and hopefully bring her off her high horse.

"Can I ask you a personal question?"

"Well, seeing as we're going to get as personal as we possibly can, I suppose a question or two couldn't hurt." She responded.

"Apart from with me, what _is_ the farthest you've ever gotten?" I asked because I was both curious and because if I'm going to be her sex partner, I have a right to know all about her past experiences. Even though she knows that information is important, I was still expecting her to put up a fight about it. But by the way she was looking at me, like she was thinking of how to start, I knew that she would tell me.

"There-there was this guy," she began, "at camp a couple of summers ago. We were both counselors and after we put all the campers to sleep we-."

"Got into bed yourselves?" I really couldn't miss that opportunity.

"No!" She yelled. "I mean, yes, we were in one but nothing crazy happened. Most of our clothes were off and we actually ended up getting to third base," I noticed the faint blush in her cheeks when she said that "but we kept hearing voices and-and footsteps so we decided not to do anything else because we didn't want to get caught." She ended by crossing her arms and leaning against a workbench. "How about you?" She nodded in my direction.

I gave a shrug. "I don't get out much Cindy."

"What's that supposed to mean? I can't have been your first...whatever."

"You're not, but the question was how far we've gotten. The farthest I've ever gone is with you."

"Really?" She didn't say it sarcastically. It was more like a genuine wonder. "So you've never done anything with anyone else?"

"I've kissed other girls, but nothing like what we have done." I clarified.

"No one? Not even," She paused like she was struggling to get the next word out. "Annie?"

I had to scoff at that.

"Annie? Seriously? We're just friends Cindy. You know that." She raised her eyebrows and looked away, clearly not fully believing me.

"_We're _just friends." I knew she was referring to the two of us this time.

"We became friends because of our friends with benefits thing. Annie and I have always been friends. That's the difference."

She gave a single shrug. "She liked you, you know. For a really long time."

"Has she ever told you that?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"No."

"Then there's no proof that she did. Why did you even bring her up? Annie and mine's relationship has nothing to do with the next step in ours." I told her.

"I suppose you're right. And if nothing really did happen between the two of you, then she's totally irrelevant to this conversation."

"That's right." I replied, and that's where our interrogation seemed to end. After about a minute, Cindy spoke again.

"So then, onto the next order of business."

"Which is?" I pondered.

"When do you want to do it?"

I thought for a second, wondering if now was actually a good time for a joke.

"Right now works for me." I answered.

"Haha." I grinned, happy that she knew I was joking. She didn't say anything else, and I figured she was waiting for me to speak.

"I do have an idea." She waited for me to continue. "My mom is going with my dad to Duck-Con in Dallas soon. They'll be gone for the whole weekend so we'll have the house to ourselves."

"And when is that?" She asked and I could hear the nervous tone in her voice.

"Two weeks from now. They're leaving next Friday." Her eyes widened a bit and I couldn't tell if it was because she thought that was too far away or not soon enough. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah. Two weeks, that's just-yeah. Umm, perfect. Cool." She said as she pushed some hair behind her ear. "So we'll just have to wait until then." I did have some other plans in mind, which since now that she's okay with us having sex, she would be smart to agree to.

"Well, in the meantime we could, if it's okay with you, start... expressing ourselves a little more when we see each other." She nodded a couple of times and I knew that she understood what I was trying to say.

"Right." She stood up and straightened her dress but it looked more like she was wiping her hands on it. "You're allowed now to...touch me. Wherever your hormone addled mind desires to. And I expect the same permission."

"Fair." I nodded.

"I also suppose that clothes can start coming off now. I'm pretty sure we won't be using them on the big day."

"Is that what you're going to label it on your calendar?" I teased.

"Shut up." She replied as she threw me a look. "So that's it then? It's decided?"

"Yup."

"Cool. So I will just see you at school tomorrow then."

"Alright. Have a good day." I said that last part as she was walking towards the exit.

"Yeah. You too." Within a few seconds, the automatic doors closed shut behind her.

**New character alert! Who noticed it? Anyone? **

**Also, do you think we can hit 50 reviews in time for the next chapter? There may or may not be an advanced sneak peek to chapter 8 for that awesome 50th reviewer...! **


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